WEBVTT - #318 Packers Unscripted: The opener arrives 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:20.640 Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:24.600 I am Mike Spofford. He is my trusted colleague West Hodkuits. 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:26.920 We're coming to you here from our studios at lambeau 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:31.000 Field West. Packers Bears Sunday Night Football is almost here. 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:33.480 It's our Friday show, our last show of the week, 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:37.680 which customarily we begin by focusing on the keys to 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.840 the game for the Green Bay Packers. So let's start 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:44.320 on the offensive side here. Chicago Bears bringing that defense 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:47.519 in with Khalil Mack is the new addition. What are 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:49.920 the keys for the Packers offensively to come out on 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:52.640 top here? Well, from what I saw from some nation 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:56.160 national sources, it's to block Khalil Mack, and the Packers 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.120 plan on doing that, so uh yeah. I mean this 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:01.640 is one of those con tests where, I mean, every 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:03.960 single week, it's about the pass rush. It's about winning 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.280 that battle. Mike Petton talked about it earlier this week, 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:08.160 And it doesn't matter if you're dealing with the second 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:10.679 year quarterback like Mr Drabinsky, or you're dealing with someone 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:12.920 like Aaron Rodgers that's been doing it at a high 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:15.520 level for over a decade now, you need to be 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:18.880 able to pressure the quarterback. So from that perspective, the 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:23.000 counter balance of that is the offensive line in your tackles. 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.840 The Green Bay Packers are going to have, by all accounts, 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:28.000 will have their starting five for the first time this 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:31.319 summer in this game. I know Mike McCarthy said it, 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:33.280 James Camp and touched on it. You wish you could 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:35.920 have gotten those guys more reps together, but they're also 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.800 not rookies anymore. Uh. Corey Lindsay has been in this 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:41.720 league for five years, is on his second contract. You know, 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.000 Lane Taylor has been in this league for five six 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:47.120 years on his second contract. In David baktr and Brian 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:51.040 Blag are Pro Bowl type caliber tackles. Blaga probably has 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:53.840 the toughest assignment in this game, because if you base 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:55.720 it on recent history, he'll be seeing a lot of 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:58.680 Khalil mac. But at the same time, you can just hear, 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:00.600 you know, talking to these guys this week and listening 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:03.640 to their quotes, they're really embracing this challenge too. So 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:05.720 I think it's been a really good chess match, especially 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:07.160 to be able to do it in in the hundredth season. 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:09.639 The first game at lambeau Field Sunday Night football. The 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:12.280 energy is going to be electric, and I think seeing 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:13.840 that how that's gonna work on both sides of the 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:15.320 ball with the pass rush is gonna be really fun 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:17.440 to watch. Yeah, I'm not sure how much Khalil Mack 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.960 is going to play, but when that is on the field, 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.919 I think if if the Packers neutralize him in any way, 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:25.880 I think it takes a little bit of the wind 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:27.440 out of the sales of the Bears. I mean, they've 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:31.160 been really energized by this acquisition. I think a lot 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:34.000 of people would have been looking at this game, frankly 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:37.040 as a potentially a Packer's runaway in some respects as 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:40.720 far as the national perspectively, if Khalil Mack hadn't suddenly 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:44.239 jumped up and joined the Bears defense and now he's 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:47.960 the key piece potentially to slowing down Aaron Rodgers. So 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:49.920 I think that's a big part of this game. The 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.760 other part, I'll say, for the Packers offensively, you'd like 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:56.280 to see them get Jimmy Graham involved early and get 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.280 him going that connection with Aaron Rodgers. Let's see it. 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.200 Let's see what impact it has on this offense. And 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.120 on any given ball game. And the flip side of that, 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.080 I'm not going to profess to know everything about the 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:10.840 xs and ohs and the personnel of the Bears, but 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:14.079 I don't see anybody on that Bears defense that they 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:16.960 can line up one on one with Jimmy Graham and 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:21.639 feel comfortable necessarily. So that tells me that they're going 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.280 to have to keep safety help in the middle of 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:28.320 the field. And if that happens, then it's Adams and 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:32.119 Allison and or Allison on the outside who are going 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:34.800 to have some one on ones. And if you've got 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.240 those one on ones on the outside, because that safety 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:39.720 help is in the middle of the field against Jimmy Graham, 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:41.520 you have to win those one on one And you 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:43.880 and I saw it during the training camp, Mike. In 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:47.240 the preseason. Again, everything's very vanilla. Teams aren't scheming up 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:49.760 a lot of stuff. But we did notice the Packers 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:52.240 go to a lot of empty looks, and they can 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.320 do that when you have Time Montgomery as a running back, 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:57.200 when you have Jamal Williams and his background and has 0:03:57.200 --> 0:03:58.920 proven that he can be a solid pass catcher in 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.760 this league at any given time, being able to potentially 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.320 go empty, and we'll see exactly what their plan is 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:07.840 for that in this game and have Jimmy Graham, Randall 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:10.200 Cobb and then one of those running backs also involved 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:13.680 in addition to Davante Adams and gern Willison. There's a 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:16.200 lot of matchup problems there that that presents. We saw 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:18.400 a lot of two tight end packages as well during 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.880 the preseason. I believe the only drive that Aaron Rodgers 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:26.200 lad in that game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, all but 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.560 one of those plays was mostly operating out of a 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:31.159 two tight end set. So, yeah, getting back to your 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:34.720 original point, there's so many different array of weapons and 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:38.640 they're all so different. Uh, They're they're all incredibly skilled. 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:40.960 When you look at what Adams can do on the boundary, 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.280 when you look at what Alison does, and then having 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.120 that kind of contrast of of Graham and Randall Cob 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:50.320 in the middle of the field, it does it stretches 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:52.039 out a defense and Vic Fanjo is gonna have to 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.479 take that into account. Yeah, alright, Well, switching gears to 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:56.840 the defensive side of the ball for the Packers, what 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:00.720 do you see as the key thing to folk Ghassan here? 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:02.840 For the Packers to do what they need to do well. 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:04.640 The The thing I'm most intrigued by is just to 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.120 see what the secondary is gonna look like and where 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:08.720 all those pieces are gonna fit, because we saw a 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.320 lot of guys really play well throughout the camp and 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:14.120 in preseason. But as far as the biggest factor in 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:16.200 this game, I think it comes back to the past rush. 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.920 You do not want to let Mitchell Robinsky get comfortable 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.400 in the pocket. Last year it was kind of an 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:23.919 uneven year for him, and you always kind of chalked 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.599 it up to is that the rookie sort of exposure 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.040 and trying to get your feet wet like Jared Goff 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.320 maybe did two years ago before he kind of broke out, 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:33.920 Or are you just gonna have the Carson Wentz hit 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.479 the ground running thing. Traubinsky seems to be more of 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:38.440 the golf route, just based on the whatever it was 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.839 nine games that he started, but they got him Allan Robinson. 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:45.120 Now he has Taylor Gabriel and certainly the options that 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.200 he has in that backfield. What can he do with 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:49.520 that now is going to be a big issue. But 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:52.160 I think for the Packers, you have Clay Matthews and 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:54.680 Nick Perry healthy. Now, what kind of pressure can you 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:58.640 generate against those tackles? What can potentially Mike Daniels and 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:01.880 Mohammed Wilkerson Kenny Calr do against that interior offensive line. 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:04.080 It looks like Eric Kush will probably be starting at guard. 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:05.800 He did not play in the NFL last year. He 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:09.520 was on injured reserve. So there seems to be opportunities 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.640 as well. As much as the storyline has shifted towards 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:14.599 Khalil Mack, the Green Bay Packers have an opportunity, especially 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:16.800 with it being Mike Patton's first game with this scheme 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.760 in Green Bay, to potentially do likewise in terms of 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:21.880 trying to generate pressure against Mitchell Roe Bisky. Well, I 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:24.359 may be way off base here, which wouldn't be the 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:27.520 first time. But when I look at this and I 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:30.000 know the Bears want to get True Whisky going, and 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.719 they want to get him going with those new receivers, 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.440 that whole new receiving corps. You mentioned Robinson Gabriel, We 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:39.000 talked about Anthony Miller, the new draft pick. He's in 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:41.680 that mix as well. But honestly, was I think the 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:43.280 Bears are going to come in here and try to 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:47.520 run the ball down the Packers throats. I think Jordan Howard, frankly, 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.760 Jordan Howard is the most accomplished running back, number one 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:53.400 running back right now in this division. I think there's 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.760 no question about that. Now, Dalvin Cook in Minnesota, he's 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:59.600 potentially coming back, you know, coming back from that from 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:02.320 that Ace Yell, dalvln Dalvin Cook maybe the running back 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.000 that everybody's talking about by the end of the season. 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:07.800 But Jordan Howard is the most accomplished running back in 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:10.040 this division. And he's a pounder, he is a he 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:12.760 is a big, strong guy. And then you have the 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.800 change up with Tart Cohen, the fast, speedy guy who 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.360 can get involved in the short passing game and on 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:20.800 you know, some outside runs trying to get to the edge. 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:23.160 I think the running game is is going to be 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:26.120 Mitchell Trubisky's best friend here in his second year, as 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.760 he starts a season as the starting quarterback for the 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:32.040 first time. I think the Bears have got the excuse me, 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.400 the Packers have got to take the Bears running game 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:36.960 out of this and put the game in Trubisky's hands. 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:38.880 And there are a lot of issues that obviously surface 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:41.120 last year for the Packers on defense. But the one 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.520 thing that they did pretty well in these division matchups 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:46.200 was stopping Howard and both of the games when you 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:48.680 look back to September, the Packers have done a good 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.000 job on him over the of the years. Eighteen carries 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.840 for fifty three yards and then obviously in November fifteen 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:57.440 carries fort and that on one play, So they did 0:07:57.520 --> 0:07:59.360 do a good job of bottling him up. And I'm 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.000 really glad made that point because it's a valid argument 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.440 to make. We talked so much about the interior line 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:07.200 and being able to generate pressure, and they have that capability. 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:10.800 Wilkerson has two ten plus sax seasons. You know, Mike 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.000 Daniels in five consecutive years has had at least four 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.240 and a half or five. And then you also have 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:17.760 Kenny Clark coming off the best year of his career 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.720 in a breakthrough season. But at the core of this, 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:24.240 it is about the run defense. And Blake Martinez made 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.160 that comment during the off season. You know, he wants 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.040 to break the the NFL record for tackles, but he 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:30.600 also mentioned I believe it was in one of the 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:34.520 Packers TV networks, UH, one of those simulcasts when he 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.040 was doing in a sidelineterview saying, well, if Kenny Clark 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.320 and and Mike Daniels keep making those tackles at the 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:40.840 front line, I'm not going to be able to have 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:43.880 that opportunity, which I think he's okay with. If these 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:47.040 guys are bottling people up. It is. It's so true, Mike. 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:49.120 It is about pass rush, it's about pressure, but the 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.040 starting point is the run defense, and that's something the 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.120 Packers are hoping to carry over from from some of 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.000 the success they've had the past few seasons. Yeah, I 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.760 always just feel like, especially with a young quarterback on 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.560 offensive coordinator Matt Naggie, the new head coach, he's gonna 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:05.000 want to get that running game going, and that's what's 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:08.000 gonna get Trubisky comfortable, especially playing on the road in 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.760 the season opener. All that kind of stuff. But getting 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:12.560 back to Naggie for a second, I'm gonna give you 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:15.440 a little bit of an audio outline of my first 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:18.640 One Last Look column for this season, which is my 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:22.120 weekly column during the regular season that gets posted on Saturday's, 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:25.120 the day before the game. Matt Naggy new head coach. 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:27.400 This will be his first Packers Bears game in this 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:32.400 long storied rivalry Packers over the last twenty years, not 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:35.720 a lot of success. Actually, when a new Bears head 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:38.040 coach has his first game against the Packers, I'm gonna 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:41.880 give you the rundown. Here Dick Geron's first game as 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:45.199 head coach against the Packers. The Bears win fourteen to 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:48.959 thirteen at lambeau Field on a blocked chip shot field goal. 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:52.920 Brian Robinson blocks Ryan Longwell. It was six days after 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.080 Walter Payton had passed away, and it was the hand 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:58.600 of Walter was sort of the line out of Chicago 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:01.520 that reached up to block that field goal. Okay, fast 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:07.200 forward five years, two thousand and four, Lovey Smith's first game. Now, 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.160 he made the famous proclamation that the number one priority 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:12.760 for Chicago was to beat Green Bay when he was hired, 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:15.720 because the Packers were dominating the series with Farve at 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:19.559 that point. The Lovey Smith wins his first game against 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:23.120 the Packers to ten, gets a ninety five yard fumble 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:26.079 return for a touchdown by safety Mike Brown. Another kind 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:30.800 of crazy happening, right. Okay, Now go forward another nine years, 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:34.920 Mark Tressman's first game as head coach. I don't need 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:37.439 to remind anybody what happened in that game at lambeau 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:41.160 Field and Packers Bears Shay McClelland sacks Aaron Rodgers the 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:44.240 broken collar bone. The Bears win that game. Okay, so 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:48.440 a lot of crazy happenings that allowed the Bears to 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:51.920 win those head coaching debuts. But then the Packers flipped 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:56.000 the script in John Fox. He takes over for the Bears. 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:58.560 His first game against the Packers happens to be Week one, 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.920 just like it is this time with Naggie, and the 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.320 Packers pulled that one out down in Chicago. James Jones 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:07.959 comes back after an absence from Green Bay, catches a 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:11.160 couple of touchdown passes. Clay Matthews has a big interception 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.240 of Jay Cutler in the fourth quarter that helps to 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.960 salt the game away. So I think you know where 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:18.840 I'm going with this. You look at an absence of 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.120 a player for the Packers who's come back and an 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:24.839 interception playing a big role this game points to Termont 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.880 Williams doing something special here for the Packers to do 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.600 what they did against John Fox and get away from 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:33.160 what happened in these other Bears head coaching debuts. Against 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:35.319 Green Bay. Here's what I love about Trumon Williams two. 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.320 And that's a really good analogy in terms of getting 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:40.040 from point to point b with what I'm sure is 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:42.400 going to be a great column on Saturday. But the 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.360 one thing I love about Williams is that, and then 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:47.360 so many guys said it, and it sometimes can get 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.920 click cliche, but you know, he looks like he's twenty five. 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.120 He looks like he's twenty four. I think maybe it 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:54.600 was Demetri Goodson who said he looks like he's twenty six, 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.160 you know, a little higher on that schedule, all right, 0:11:57.440 --> 0:12:00.560 the spectrum, but he looks like he can still play 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.800 football and at thirty five years old, and we'll see 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:05.800 what Mike Petton's plans are for him. But I still, 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:07.960 I've said this time and time again, if he's starting 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.080 on the boundary on Sunday night at thirty five years old, 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.280 Trumon Williams has accomplished a lot in the NFL that 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:17.440 might be right up there with one of the really 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:20.160 special things. You don't see that a lot you see cornerbacks. 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:23.200 Terrence Newman just retired thirty nine years old, forty years old, 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:25.160 but you don't see a lot of cornerbacks do that 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.080 playing the boundary at that age, and it looks like 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:28.800 he still has a springing nous and his lower body 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:31.200 to do it. But getting back to my original point, Mike, 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:34.320 you have Williams, you have Devon House coming back. You know, 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.839 Kevin King looks like the shoulders gonna be okay, He's 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:39.760 gonna be able to play through. And Jaire Alexander and 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:42.240 Josh Jackson what they put on film during the training camp, 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:45.800 five really talented cornerbacks the Packers have to choose from. 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:48.240 Mike Petton has to choose from. In addition to that 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:51.000 deep safety group that that has five guys on the roster, 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:53.439 It's really going to be interesting to see how those 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:56.240 chess pieces moved because so many of those guys can 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.680 play the slot, a few of them can even play 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:00.600 back on deep safety, a couple of them can play 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:04.880 inside linebacker. Seeing how Petton moves those pieces, because we 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:08.120 saw a ton of different combinations during camp, is going 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:09.720 to be to me, as I said earlier, the most 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:12.199 intriguing aspect of this game in this first month of 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:14.360 the regular season. Yeah, Well, one other thing I want 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:16.360 to hit on for sure, as we are here in 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:19.160 week one before the first regular season game is played. 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:21.960 If you haven't checked it out, folks, go to Packers 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.720 dot com and check out West is really really nicely 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:28.640 put together story on Robert Tonyan, the number four tight end, 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:34.000 join the Packers practice squad late last season, did absolutely 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.400 everything he was asked to do and made the team 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:41.040 this year. Aaron Rodgers said he deserved to make this 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:45.240 team as the fourth tight end. You talked with Tanyan 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:48.520 with both his mother and his father. A real uh 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:52.120 family affair here in terms of his athletic career going 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:54.120 all the way along. You laid it out really nicely. 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.280 It's it's really a good story. And these are the 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:58.920 stories that we love, these underdog stories of these guys 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:01.120 who who work so hard and kind of come out 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.320 of nowhere to make it in the NFL. He comes 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.240 from Indiana State. Just tell us about the story because 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.560 Roster cut Down Day was his mother's birthday. It was, Yeah, 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:11.839 it was, And she said I was joking with her 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:13.400 about this that it was, you know, one of the 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:15.440 longest days of her life, one of the longest birthdays 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:18.920 she's ever had. You know, she vacuumed the house, she dusted, 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.520 she was cleaning, and at times, as I wrote in 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:23.680 the story, when she just gave up, she just paced 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.200 around the house with her phone in her hand, waiting 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:29.360 to hear from him. Um. The thing the impetus for 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:31.720 the story actually stemmed from a conversation I had. I've 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:33.240 talked to him throughout the training camp, but it was 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:34.880 a conversation I had with him in the locker room 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:37.200 in Kansas City when both of his parents had gone 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.160 to Arrowhead Stadium to watch him, and both of them, 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:42.320 for the most part, got to all of his college games. 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.880 His older sister sometimes she played at Bowling Green for volleyball, 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:47.480 so sometimes they had to split up a little bit, 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.440 but for the most part, they've always tracked him at 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:52.360 every level, going back to when he started playing in 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.240 middle school. The thing that was most interesting to me 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:59.120 about Tanyan story is that he was at a position 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:00.640 that I think a lot of But when you're just 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.880 filling out a fifty three man roster in June, you 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.000 just think, okay, you have those three tight ends, the 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:08.960 three veterans, you move on. And Tanian earned a spot 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:13.200 on that roster, and I mentioned to his mortain Tammy 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:17.680 the quote that Aaron Rodgers said about how he earned this, 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.960 and it made her emotional because if you understand tanyan story, 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.360 he was a high school quarterback that really didn't get 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:27.240 looked at very much. The high school team didn't have 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:29.680 a ton of success. He goes to Indiana State, doesn't 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:32.040 have a ton of success there, and he eventually moves 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:35.240 over to receiver, and she said that was the lowest 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:37.200 point for him because all he ever did is he 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:39.520 wanted to be a quarterback. When he was three years old, 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:41.880 he had a birthday party wearing a Brett Farve jersey 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:47.680 in Illinois because like the quarterback, and when he had 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:50.000 to move to to receiver, he understood it, but it 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:53.960 was tough. And he's went to that school in Indiana 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:56.080 State head and had a guy make the opening roster 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:59.480 in the NFL and eighteen years there's been one guy 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:01.800 that's played aid in for the Green Bay Packers for 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.040 out of Indiana State in the franchise's history. And he 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.960 makes the decision not only to convert to receiver, we 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:10.120 ended up being the second all tailand leading receiver in 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:12.680 Indiana State history, but then he understands that he has 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:15.000 to move to tight end to play that at the 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.040 next level. And and you'll get it if you get 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:18.440 a chance to read the story. I just kind of 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.440 go through the different levels of what that journey entailed. 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:23.880 But I think the most important thing for him is 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.040 last year he got cut by Detroit, really didn't get 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:28.280 much of a chance during training camp to prove himself. 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.320 Took ten visits throughout the course of the regular season 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.280 up until the Packers finally bringing him in in December 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:36.480 for a workout, and then was told by one of 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:39.000 the scouts after it to call your parents and tell 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:42.360 him you're not coming home. And you know, he took that. 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.040 He did everything he could do. He put on the weight, 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:47.960 put on good clean weight, came back for training camp 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:49.800 as a tight end, And to be honest with you, Mike, 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:52.120 other than the fact that he was a former practice 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:54.200 squad player and an undrafted free agent in this league, 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:58.720 they're really he really wasn't that dramatic. I mean, it 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:01.280 just he just seemed like after that game in Kansas 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:03.000 City where he had four catches and thirty yards and 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:06.040 a touchdown, it just sort of seemed like it was there. 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:07.480 He was going to be on the roster. Yeah, the 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:09.560 writing was on the wall that he had that he 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:12.280 had done what it took. And I think as a 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:15.320 as amazing a happy birthday phone call as I'm sure 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:19.119 that was on on Saturday. The thing he could really 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:21.439 take the most pride in, I think, is that he 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.520 didn't make this roster, as you said, because the packers 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.159 needed a tight end. He made this roster because the 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.359 packers didn't want his talent to go somewhere else. Because 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:32.879 you can certainly have three tight ends on a fifty 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:36.400 three and be just fine. So that's definitely an element 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.280 to to how he made it here and got as 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:41.320 far as he did. The cool part of the story too, 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:44.639 once he does. Once his parents Bob sr And Tammy 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.880 got the call, uh, they were celebrating. She actually bought 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.720 three bottles of Green Bay Packers champagne, but she didn't 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:53.040 tell anybody about it. She had completely hidden in a 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:56.280 in a cupboard, but then quietly on Saturday morning moved 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:59.560 them into the refrigerator just in case, you know, things 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:03.760 turned out okay. He calls her she's just like Robert, 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:07.480 and he goes Happy Birthday, and he mentioned the locker 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:08.840 room this week that he was going to buy her 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:13.000 an item. He's a pretty notorious gift giver. I guess 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:15.720 he's phenomenal with his mom and his sister. But as 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:17.240 she said, I put it near the end of the story, 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:19.360 all she wants is that number eighty five jersey and 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.000 just to look at where he's come from in the 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:24.160 last twenty four years, the man he's become, and now 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:26.760 this opportunity. She admitted, she understands how the game works. 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.200 People have told her the NFL is not for long, 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.320 but they're enjoying this moment. They're gonna be here on 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:34.840 Sunday night, and whenever he does step onto the field 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:36.680 for the Packers, they're going to be cheering them on. Yeah, 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.000 well we see, uh we still see some eighty five 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.080 jerseys at lambeau Field. A lot of people still have 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:43.600 their Greg Jennings jerseys. But if anybody's at the game 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.400 Sunday night and they see an eighty five with Tanya 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.160 on the back, it's probably uh Tammy Tony. And there's 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:50.879