Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford sitting next to my partner in crime,
Speaker 1: West Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambau Field West. We are another day closer to
Speaker 1: Packers Panthers three pm Central Time kickoff on Sunday afternoon
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field. And as the Packers wrapped up their
Speaker 1: first day of on field preparations for this game on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: we got the opportunity to talk to a lot of
Speaker 1: players in the locker room after practice. There's an overriding
Speaker 1: theme here, particularly on the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 1: but really it applies to both sides of the ball
Speaker 1: that coming off of that game against the Chargers, the
Speaker 1: Packers just want to get back to who they are.
Speaker 1: And I think on offense, there's one thing that a
Speaker 1: lot of different people, head, coach, quarterback, everybody are pointing
Speaker 1: to to get their offensively and it has to do
Speaker 1: with the running backs. It does, Mike, because at this
Speaker 1: point of the season, ten weeks into this thing already,
Speaker 1: I think you've seen that Aaron Jones, Jamal Williams in
Speaker 1: terms of difference makers and playmakers. This offense operates at
Speaker 1: a different level when those two guys are involved, and
Speaker 1: they just didn't get to that last week. You know,
Speaker 1: they opened the game. He actually was funny. I even
Speaker 1: said this to you in the press box. It's almost
Speaker 1: like they took a little bit of a cue from
Speaker 1: what Kansas City did and motioning Aaron Jones out and
Speaker 1: it was kind of a moving rotation where he's just
Speaker 1: sort of hovering in space, almost like an arena Football
Speaker 1: League type play. They threw the ball to him, but
Speaker 1: the block wasn't there to end up being like a
Speaker 1: one yard game and didn't really go anywhere. But you
Speaker 1: could see early on that what that was going to
Speaker 1: be the game plan, you know, incorporating them in the run,
Speaker 1: getting them involved in the past, and once they got
Speaker 1: in that two minute operation, you didn't really see it
Speaker 1: that much. They used Davante Adams once, I think in
Speaker 1: the backfield motioning out that was a concept I thought
Speaker 1: when we saw that, we'd see a lot more of
Speaker 1: it during the game. And just blending your playmakers together,
Speaker 1: Davante Adams, Aaron Jones, Jamal Williams and being able to
Speaker 1: get contributions from multiple players. I think is just so essential.
Speaker 1: It's what made this offense as good as it was
Speaker 1: in October without Adams, and they have to get back
Speaker 1: to that now. Yeah. Well, I wrote a story last
Speaker 1: night on the website after those locker room interviews because
Speaker 1: I thought Aaron Rodgers had some very pointed comments. He
Speaker 1: doesn't do this very often, but he's actually throwing out
Speaker 1: numbers saying, hey, Aaron Jones needs needs to touch the
Speaker 1: ball fifteen to twenty times, Jamal Williams need to touch
Speaker 1: it ten to fifteen times. That's when this offense is
Speaker 1: at its best. I went and took a look at
Speaker 1: some of the numbers west and they're in the story
Speaker 1: for anybody who wants to check them out. But if
Speaker 1: you if you split the Packers season into what I
Speaker 1: would say, we're there there three worst games, the two losses,
Speaker 1: and then the offensive performance in Chicago in Week one
Speaker 1: and then the other six. It's really pretty remarkable because
Speaker 1: if you take sixty yards of combined rushing and receiving
Speaker 1: from one individual, because we've seen Aaron Jones and Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams both have those kinds of performances, if you use
Speaker 1: sixty yards as the measuring stick, neither one of them
Speaker 1: had a combined sixty yards from scrimmage game in those
Speaker 1: first three games that I mentioned. The two of them
Speaker 1: collective collectively have had seven sixty plus yard yards from
Speaker 1: scrimmage performances in the other games. And even more important,
Speaker 1: fifteen of their combined seventeen touchdowns have come in that
Speaker 1: block of six games when the Packers have been playing
Speaker 1: their best. So some will say, well, are they producing
Speaker 1: because the Packers are winning or the Packers winning because
Speaker 1: they're producing? I say it's the latter, because the numbers.
Speaker 1: The numbers just show when those guys, when those guys
Speaker 1: are moving the ball and getting it in the end zone,
Speaker 1: that's when this Packers team is choking us win. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, and and honestly, you throw that question out there,
Speaker 1: and I don't even know if it really matters. That's
Speaker 1: where you your your fastball is right now. You you
Speaker 1: dance with the one that brung you. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is one of these things that when you see those
Speaker 1: type of numbers and you see that type of production,
Speaker 1: you have to run with it. You have to be
Speaker 1: able to get it incorporated into your offense. The big
Speaker 1: stat I threw out there a couple of weeks ago
Speaker 1: in the first four games and they had Davante Adams
Speaker 1: in September. I think it was somewhere around four hundred
Speaker 1: total yards, one touchdown, two touchdowns something like that between
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams. In the four games without him,
Speaker 1: I think it was something like seven hundred fifty yards
Speaker 1: eleven touchdowns. Actually, I think it was like four touchdowns
Speaker 1: the first four or five touchdowns the first four games.
Speaker 1: Either way, it shows you the difference of when those
Speaker 1: guys are involved and when they're playing well. It doesn't
Speaker 1: have to be either or. I mean, I think you
Speaker 1: know Davante Adams is that's a mouth that you want
Speaker 1: to feed as well. You want to get him opportunities.
Speaker 1: He's one of your big play threats as a receiver.
Speaker 1: It's understanding now, much like Aaron Rodgers head to do
Speaker 1: in two thousand fourteen, is the resources you have in
Speaker 1: the backfield now too, and being able to make sure
Speaker 1: that you get those guys the touches that they need
Speaker 1: to have the appropriate impact on this offense. And I
Speaker 1: just think you know, when you go back and you
Speaker 1: boil that game down, and I've said it to you
Speaker 1: a couple of times. This week never really felt like
Speaker 1: they got off the plane, and it never really felt
Speaker 1: like offensively, you ever really saw a semblance of what
Speaker 1: made them successful in the four weeks prior to that.
Speaker 1: This game against Carolina, if you want to dial up
Speaker 1: the film and in te Hron Rivera's credit, you know,
Speaker 1: he said, stuff happens. They don't really took a lot.
Speaker 1: They didn't take a lot from that San Francisco game.
Speaker 1: They had turnovers, but San Francisco did run a lot
Speaker 1: against them in that matchup. I want to say somewhere
Speaker 1: around over two yards they were able to produce on
Speaker 1: the ground. Aaron Jones, Jamal Williams. Honestly, I'll take them
Speaker 1: over what San Francisco has right now and there that backfield,
Speaker 1: those guys have to be a focal point going into
Speaker 1: this game against the Panthers, especially with how cold it's
Speaker 1: going to be at potentially at home. Yeah, well, Carolina's
Speaker 1: run defense numbers certainly took a hit against San Francisco,
Speaker 1: But we are at the point in the season where
Speaker 1: you know, you don't just say, well, it was one game,
Speaker 1: because you look at the collective and the Panthers are
Speaker 1: in the bottom quarter, bottom third of the league in
Speaker 1: rushing yards allowed per game. They are I believe they're
Speaker 1: thirty first in the league in yards per carry. So
Speaker 1: this this defense can be had with the run. And
Speaker 1: but that being said, I'm not necessarily advocating with regards to,
Speaker 1: you know, the touches for Jones and Williams that the
Speaker 1: Packers just trying to pound away with the run. I
Speaker 1: think it's still it's the Packers doing what they do
Speaker 1: best in getting the ball in their hands. However you
Speaker 1: want to get it to them and then see how
Speaker 1: the Panthers defense reaction there. How does Luke Keickley react,
Speaker 1: What do they do with that defensive front, and how
Speaker 1: does that maybe affect their pass rush which is racked
Speaker 1: up the league leading thirty four sacks if they have
Speaker 1: to worry about the running back spreading them horizontally and
Speaker 1: whatnot throughout the game. So that's the uh, that's the
Speaker 1: game planning, the chess match, the x is and nose
Speaker 1: part of this that I think will be interesting to
Speaker 1: see unfold on Sunday. The Panthers, maybe more than any
Speaker 1: other defense right now in the NFL, they take chances,
Speaker 1: and those chances occasionally have led to big breaks for
Speaker 1: the opposing run game. You know, when you catch them
Speaker 1: in a particular look, in a particular particular scheme and
Speaker 1: you get the numbers in your favor. That's where Caroline
Speaker 1: has been hurt to this point. So you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna be a case of just pounded, you know,
Speaker 1: carry after carry after carry. I just, you know, I
Speaker 1: think it really boils down to whether you're passing or
Speaker 1: whether you're running. Playing clean football right off the bat.
Speaker 1: The Packers didn't play clean enough football in that first
Speaker 1: quarter against the Chargers, and that's what led to them
Speaker 1: having to, you know, make some of the decisions that
Speaker 1: they made with the offensive scheme. I want to say,
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones mentioned at his locker on Wednesday there might
Speaker 1: have been five offensive plays in the first half that
Speaker 1: were not flagged for Green Bay. I mean, it was
Speaker 1: low in terms of you know, issues where you're kind
Speaker 1: of shooting yourself in the foot a little bit and
Speaker 1: then you got to try to bounce back, and now
Speaker 1: you're in third and long, and now you're really you know,
Speaker 1: limiting your offensive playbook. So yeah, I just I think
Speaker 1: that first quarter, that first that second quarter. I don't
Speaker 1: care if it's running between the tackles. I don't care
Speaker 1: if it's in space. I don't care what you have
Speaker 1: to do. But get those running backs involved in this
Speaker 1: offense and let that start to work for you a
Speaker 1: little bit and get into that rhythm that Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: was talking about, because even now after losing to eleven
Speaker 1: at his locker on Wednesday, he's still kind of had
Speaker 1: that feeling in the back of his mind that, you know,
Speaker 1: if we just had one big play that could have
Speaker 1: been the thing that broke the whole thing open. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when that game was nothing, twelve to nothing, And that's
Speaker 1: the thing, and that that's where Matt Lafleur has been
Speaker 1: critical of himself this week for not sticking to the
Speaker 1: game plan long enough in Los Angeles because at nine
Speaker 1: and nothing, at twelve to nothing, one score changes the game.
Speaker 1: But the Packers were kind of chasing it in terms
Speaker 1: of trying to make a big play and get that
Speaker 1: spark offensively, which I don't necessarily fault the effort in
Speaker 1: doing that, because that's what one in the game in Chicago.
Speaker 1: Let's be honest, the offense was going nowhere, hit the
Speaker 1: big shot play down the field MVS and then suddenly
Speaker 1: you're on the move and you're in position to win
Speaker 1: the game. So I don't fault the effort there. But
Speaker 1: Lafleur has been critical of himself for not really just
Speaker 1: taking a deep breath and looking at the scoreboard. As
Speaker 1: badly as everything had gone, it was a two score
Speaker 1: game for still a long stretch where you just needed
Speaker 1: one score to get back into it. And we'll see
Speaker 1: him definitely, uh stick to his game plan a little
Speaker 1: bit more because I Matt Lafleur believes in his game plans.
Speaker 1: There's no question about that. He's and he's proven in
Speaker 1: this half a season that he's been a head coach
Speaker 1: for the first time in the NFL. He's proven as
Speaker 1: this offense has evolved and he's gotten to know his
Speaker 1: own players better, that he has put them in a
Speaker 1: lot of really good positions to have success. The two
Speaker 1: biggest things that he's brought to Green Bay so far,
Speaker 1: in addition to the motioning and bunch formations and some
Speaker 1: of the things that they're doing with the you know,
Speaker 1: the outside zone, is the belief first off, in the
Speaker 1: running backs and introducing the two running back packages. I
Speaker 1: thought that was a really nice wrinkle that this offense
Speaker 1: had been because when you have those type of playmakers,
Speaker 1: you've got to get them on the field. I don't
Speaker 1: care what the packages are, and they've been very creative
Speaker 1: with how they've used both of those guys. But the
Speaker 1: other thing is these scripted plays early on. Packers have
Speaker 1: been snake bit in the last few years by being
Speaker 1: able to get off to a quick start offensively. They've
Speaker 1: very much done that this year. I think one of
Speaker 1: the studies I'll probably do once is year ends is
Speaker 1: just looking at, Okay, how did these first you know
Speaker 1: drives compared to previous years, because honestly, this is about
Speaker 1: as seamless as it's been at least during my time
Speaker 1: on the beat, probably going back to two thousand twelve,
Speaker 1: in terms of how it feels with how they've been
Speaker 1: getting off to these starts. But the last thing that
Speaker 1: I've really liked about him is the accountability side of it.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers spoke on that at his locker two. The
Speaker 1: coaches can walk into that room and they can correct
Speaker 1: and critique every single thing that players do, and they're
Speaker 1: probably directly in the right. You have to have players,
Speaker 1: you have to have scheme in order to be successful,
Speaker 1: but there is a finger that gets pointed at themselves
Speaker 1: as well and understanding that, yeah, I didn't do what
Speaker 1: I needed to do to put a particular play you're
Speaker 1: in the right look, or you know, give them the
Speaker 1: right opportunity, or being able to stay committed to the
Speaker 1: game plan and not jump to conclusions when you aren't
Speaker 1: getting things going. That type of accountability goes along way, Mike,
Speaker 1: because I'll tell you right now, I've worked for both
Speaker 1: type of leaders during my short thirty one years of
Speaker 1: life and decade as a full time employee. The people
Speaker 1: that pointed themselves and say, you know what, what we
Speaker 1: did there, that's not right? Those are the people you
Speaker 1: ultimately have respect for. The people that just kind of
Speaker 1: shove off responsibility and say, yeah, that was mostly on you.
Speaker 1: I knew what I was doing. Those are the people
Speaker 1: that you're not gonna want to work for, you're not
Speaker 1: gonna want to play for, You're not going to build
Speaker 1: a championship with. And I think that is the number
Speaker 1: one foundation When people ask us about Insider Inbox, one
Speaker 1: of the questions was today, well, you know, Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: was was outcoached or he was over his head man.
Speaker 1: Look around the NFL for two seconds, I was gonna
Speaker 1: take a look at all the new head coaches in
Speaker 1: the NFL this year and look at their records, and
Speaker 1: look at the Packers record. I mean, there's there's something
Speaker 1: pretty good going on here. And yes, the Packers had
Speaker 1: a dud, a stinker, a clunker of a game, but
Speaker 1: it does not define who the two thousand nineteen Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers are. Now it's on them to make that sentiment,
Speaker 1: make that mentality hold up here as the second half
Speaker 1: of the season continues. But um, but yeah, let's uh.
Speaker 1: You know, as you said earlier this week, you don't
Speaker 1: let one bad day at the office ruin what you've
Speaker 1: been working on for months. Absolutely, And I mean and
Speaker 1: now just going into this game against Carolina, you hit
Speaker 1: it right on the head. You have to win this
Speaker 1: game against the Panthers. That's the focus. Now to Ron
Speaker 1: Rivera's original point, it's the reason why the Panthers were
Speaker 1: able to come back and beat the Titans the way
Speaker 1: they did. You had a bad day. You need to
Speaker 1: flush it, not allowed affect this Sunday, because if you
Speaker 1: let it affect this Sunday, then you're staring into the
Speaker 1: bye week on a two game skid. Yeah, well, there's
Speaker 1: certainly been no lack of accountability on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball for the Packers as well some some
Speaker 1: rough film sessions this week and going over what happened
Speaker 1: against the Chargers the defense, there are a lot of
Speaker 1: metrics showing the defense has been ending a bit in
Speaker 1: the wrong direction. I know some people wondering, Okay, when
Speaker 1: you get Darnell Savage back, is that going to change things?
Speaker 1: And I was cautioning, then, hey, it's not. It's not
Speaker 1: just one person. And I say that as a preference
Speaker 1: preface to what we're going to talk about now, because
Speaker 1: we could be seeing a change in a pretty frequently
Speaker 1: used package by Mike Petton with regards to Ibraheim Campbell
Speaker 1: now coming off of the pu P list. And I
Speaker 1: know earlier in the week you and I were a
Speaker 1: little bit skeptical just how quickly Campbell might be reintegrated
Speaker 1: into the defense. But what we heard yesterday from Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur and from Campbell himself in the locker room and
Speaker 1: some of his teammates, it sounds like he's good to go.
Speaker 1: That that he could be out there in a fairly
Speaker 1: significant role right away on Sunday. Tell us your impressions
Speaker 1: because you were part of the conversation with Campbell and
Speaker 1: maybe what you see happening on Sunday, well, Campbell was
Speaker 1: that was fascinating what happened last year. And I know
Speaker 1: he had the one year with Mike Petton, but that
Speaker 1: was his rookie season and he suddenly gets claimed off
Speaker 1: waivers right after the Packers made decision to trade Haha
Speaker 1: Clinton Dick's for a fourth round pick and incomes Ibrahim
Speaker 1: Campbell and he wasn't asked to play safety. They put
Speaker 1: him in the box and they put him in there
Speaker 1: with Blake Martinez, and he played really well. Eighteen tackles,
Speaker 1: five stops according to Pro Football Focus, no miss tackles
Speaker 1: during that time, and Hey was also pretty good in coverage.
Speaker 1: He was a revelation for that defense in the month
Speaker 1: of November. Unfortunately, he ends up tearing his a c
Speaker 1: L in that game against Arizona, the first game he
Speaker 1: was actually starting in this defense, and he ends up
Speaker 1: missing the last ten eleven months here rehabbing. Campbell is
Speaker 1: a fascinating player because he was I think he was
Speaker 1: a former fourth or fifth round pick with Cleveland, showed
Speaker 1: a lot of promise early on, but never became an
Speaker 1: entrenched starter in those defenses. Then he bopped around. He
Speaker 1: was in New York, he was in Houston, I think
Speaker 1: in Dallas first spell, and he ends up in Green
Speaker 1: Bay and for him to be able to pick up
Speaker 1: the playbook being claimed on November five of last year,
Speaker 1: and he was playing in Seattle two weeks later and
Speaker 1: playing a lot of snaps on defense, not special teams defense.
Speaker 1: He mentioned it, and I thought this was a really
Speaker 1: interesting point he made in that, you know, he kind
Speaker 1: of knew the game a little bit when he came back.
Speaker 1: Packers had Raven Green and that hybrid safety role Josh
Speaker 1: Jones eventually would end up being let go. He knew
Speaker 1: that he was sort of the insurance policy. I don't
Speaker 1: think hit Neither he nor the Packers thought they were
Speaker 1: gonna have to cash in on that policy as early
Speaker 1: as they did. Raven Green gets end up, you know,
Speaker 1: having that ankle injury, played really well against Chicago and
Speaker 1: then here they are having to rotate a lot of people.
Speaker 1: In matt With Flora said it himself a revolving door
Speaker 1: of sorts next to Blake Martinez, and I honestly think,
Speaker 1: and I don't want to overstate the importance of one
Speaker 1: particular player, but that void has kind of been something
Speaker 1: that's just kind of crept up on the Packers defense
Speaker 1: and they haven't been able to fill it. Um Amos
Speaker 1: played that spot, Will Redman has played that spot. I
Speaker 1: thought maybe or and Burke's coming back would help them there,
Speaker 1: but they still want to keep a safety there. So
Speaker 1: Abraham Campbellman, they're gonna look to him now. It appears
Speaker 1: to bring a similar impact that he brought last November
Speaker 1: with this defense because he's a smart player, heavy player,
Speaker 1: and he's a downhill run defender, which is a very
Speaker 1: rare trait when you're looking at a five pound safety. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think this is going to be interesting how this
Speaker 1: plays out on Sunday, because with Campbell coming back, what
Speaker 1: I see in terms of who's going to be lined
Speaker 1: up next to Blake Martinez, I think when Mike Petton
Speaker 1: is bound and determined to stop the run, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be b J. Goodson. When he wants to get a
Speaker 1: little bit more creative, it's going to be Campbell. But
Speaker 1: if the Packers just get back to maybe it being
Speaker 1: those two guys instead of that revolving door that Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur talked about. I think, you know la Fleur's point
Speaker 1: was that that might allow all the other guys, not
Speaker 1: only in the front seven but also in the back end,
Speaker 1: to just settle into their roles in their positions. Amos
Speaker 1: being one of those things I think who you know,
Speaker 1: he's a he's a key communicator, he's he's sort of
Speaker 1: one of those calming presence type of guys in the
Speaker 1: back end. So we'll see. Like I say, I never
Speaker 1: say it's always just in person or one change that's
Speaker 1: going to you know, suddenly fix everything, because the Packers
Speaker 1: have to get off blocks better and they have to
Speaker 1: tackle better on defense. There there's no two ways about that.
Speaker 1: If you're getting blocked and if you're missing tackles, there's
Speaker 1: nothing Mike Petton is going to be able to do
Speaker 1: from a scheme standpoint to help you. So that's where
Speaker 1: it starts. But having guys mentally settling into specific roles
Speaker 1: and knowing exactly what that role is every snap that
Speaker 1: they're out there, and then being able to get those
Speaker 1: reps play after play after play after play, I think
Speaker 1: hopefully for the Packers, we're going to start to see
Speaker 1: this defense put the last few weeks behind them and
Speaker 1: start to trend in the other direction. Yeah, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna have to see what this week holds. Because Adrian
Speaker 1: Nimis ends up missing practice on Wednesday. We're shooting this
Speaker 1: before Thursday's practice. He has a hamstring. There's really no
Speaker 1: injury history at all with Amos, so, I mean, he
Speaker 1: basically played all four years in Chicago without missing a
Speaker 1: game or maybe a one or two. So I don't
Speaker 1: know what to read into that or what is availability
Speaker 1: is going to look like. But to get Campbell back
Speaker 1: at this time just very critical for the defense because,
Speaker 1: as you said, Mike and I wrote about an inbox day,
Speaker 1: it takes all eleven. It's not just one guy at
Speaker 1: one position. It can turn the tide in a game
Speaker 1: or a moment, but you need everybody playing together to
Speaker 1: consistently series after series stop people. But you know, Mike,
Speaker 1: you think back to you know, maybe two thousand and fourteen,
Speaker 1: I think it was when Sam Barrington ends up being
Speaker 1: an inside linebacker for this defense alongside Clay Matthews. That
Speaker 1: makes a difference in some of the packages. You think
Speaker 1: about Howard Green coming in in two thousand and ten.
Speaker 1: There have been these moments where a late season edition
Speaker 1: ends up contributing a big way. The Packers didn't win
Speaker 1: a lot of games last year, but I thought Bashad
Speaker 1: Brelan brought that last season. So yeah, for Campbell's perspective,
Speaker 1: it is just one player. But sometimes if you get
Speaker 1: a guy in there and the defense starts to play
Speaker 1: a little better, you start to get some of that
Speaker 1: swagger back, you start to feel good about where you're sitting.
Speaker 1: So that's what I'm looking for from Campbell. I'm not
Speaker 1: asking him to be the same player he was last year,
Speaker 1: because that's a big ask for how well he played,
Speaker 1: but I think he definitely set a standard that this
Speaker 1: is a guy that doesn't necessarily need a full training
Speaker 1: camp or you know, multiple weeks to be ready for
Speaker 1: a mo role. That he could move in there and
Speaker 1: contribute right away, which is really valuable in this league
Speaker 1: this time of the year. Yeah. Well, Ibraheen Campbell is
Speaker 1: from Northwestern, so you know I have an affinity for
Speaker 1: those players. And we'll close the show today by talking
Speaker 1: about another Northwestern alum, and that's Danny Vitally. This game,
Speaker 1: the Packers only home game in the month of November,
Speaker 1: is the NFL Salute to Service Game at lambeau Field
Speaker 1: for this year. You had a conversation earlier this week
Speaker 1: with Danny Vitally. He is the Packers I guess you
Speaker 1: call it the nominee the representative for the Salute to
Speaker 1: Service initiative in the NFL this year. And uh, you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of interesting things that Vitally
Speaker 1: talked about. Give us the summary. Yeah, So we'll have
Speaker 1: a story on Packers dot com on Friday about this
Speaker 1: and talking about some of his history with it and
Speaker 1: in the different causes that he's been involved in. You know,
Speaker 1: Danny got here a little over a year ago on
Speaker 1: the practice squad, but in that entire time, whether he
Speaker 1: was playing or not, basically went right up to Tony
Speaker 1: Fisher from our community Outreach department and said, you know,
Speaker 1: any kind of things I can do, but specifically with
Speaker 1: the military, I want to be involved with. So, I
Speaker 1: mean he's visited different places. I know he was just
Speaker 1: down at ash Gosh Defense a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: did a thing over here at the turn with Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers and some players with you know, honoring vets. Uh So,
Speaker 1: that's near and dear d in his heart. And it's
Speaker 1: because it's kind of been ingrained in his family. Both
Speaker 1: of his grandfather's served in the military. His brother, his
Speaker 1: younger brother, Tommy, who actually played for a short time
Speaker 1: at Northwestern as a linebacker. He's now enlisting in the
Speaker 1: Navy and will be going out here in a little
Speaker 1: less than a month now. Um So his cousin was
Speaker 1: involved in the military. Uh in is Danny kind of
Speaker 1: mentioned too. If he wasn't playing football, and if he
Speaker 1: had n't met his wife at the right time, he
Speaker 1: may too have gone that route as well. It's just
Speaker 1: something that he has a huge dedication for. Uh It's
Speaker 1: been ingrained in his family and ultimately he respects just
Speaker 1: what that stands for in the sacrifices that people make.
Speaker 1: He was blown away by getting the Packers nomination for this,
Speaker 1: and and you know, it's something that he wasn't looking
Speaker 1: for any type of gratification or appreciation for what he's doing.
Speaker 1: It's just something that he does. But now that he
Speaker 1: is that nominee for the Packers this season, it's something
Speaker 1: that means a lot to him because of what he
Speaker 1: hopes that that message could send, and not only this
Speaker 1: locker room, this area, but the NFL as a whole
Speaker 1: in in showing that appreciation to members of the military
Speaker 1: and you know, soon to be his brother among them. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: it's always an interesting neat atmosphere, certainly in the pregame
Speaker 1: with the with the Salute to Service game, with the
Speaker 1: anthem and the flyover, all that kind of stuff. I
Speaker 1: know that happens that you know, the flyovers happened at
Speaker 1: other games as well, but usually it's, uh, it's it's
Speaker 1: kind of one of those that makes you jump out
Speaker 1: of your seat a little bit when it's the salute
Speaker 1: disservice game. So we'll have that look forward to on Sunday,
Speaker 1: and a lot of great people in this organization that
Speaker 1: have involved with this in the past. With Tom Bachen
Speaker 1: t Bone from our equipment staff has been a multiple
Speaker 1: time nominee. He also typically has a and and some
Speaker 1: of those flyovers and you know, kind of welcoming those
Speaker 1: you know members and you know servicemen and service women
Speaker 1: from the military, you know, Air Force and those things,
Speaker 1: you know, bringing them around Green Bay and Aaron Jones
Speaker 1: as well with his parents who had a combined i
Speaker 1: think fifty six years of military service as well. Um,
Speaker 1: it's incredible, it's awesome, and it's neat for Danny. Congratulations
Speaker 1: to him being the nominee this year. Yeah. Absolutely, with that,
Speaker 1: we will call it a wrap on this edition of
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage
Speaker 1: of the team on Packers dot com. You can subscribe
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Speaker 1: Find him on Twitter at west hot I'm at Mike
Speaker 1: Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody,
Speaker 1: See you next time.