The 2007 NFL season is gearing up and preseason is
just about over. Players have been cut, positions finalized and the
play books just about memorized. Still a lot of things about the Green
Bay Packers, and NFL pro football in general, are baffling. Here are a
few.
1) Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect. National Football
League teams almost seem to practice year-round these days. In the
early spring, they have Teeny Camp, then Tiny Camp in May, then
Mini-Camp where they re-learn what they learned in Tiny Camp, then
comes the all important Maxi-Camp where they “install” the offense,
then of course grueling Mega-Camp where they find out the offense they
installed doesn’t work, so they install a new one—and then they head
off to Training Camp in July and start all over again.
Given all
that intensive practice and planning why do so many teams look
disorganized, even clueless, when the first preseason game is played?
At the Green Bay Packers' first preseason game in San Diego last year
the offense looked as though they had just seen a football for the very
first time that night, and were not sure what to do with the oddly
shaped thing. One could almost picture Aaron Rodgers in the huddle
saying, “Okay, guys, the objective is to move toward that goal post
down there.” And then the offensive lineman remarking, with a little
awe in his voice, “But it seems so far away…we’ll never get there.”
Then
there was this year’s first preseason game, against Pittsburgh. The
Packers first team offense netted a whopping 17 yards in its first 12
plays, and ZERO first downs. Note that if you’re 6 feet tall and fall
forward 12 times you gain 24 yards.
Just imagine how poor their performance would have been if they hadn’t spent so much time ‘camping’.
2) When History Repeats. Why
were the national news media so skeptical when the Packers hired Mike
McCarthy as head coach? Seemed like a no-brainer. He was Offensive
Coordinator for the 49ers, he’s a little pudgy, and his name is Mike.
That’s one of the most successful business models the Pack has ever had
in a coach. In fact, even if all he had going for him was his first
name, history shows he is likely to win approximately 63% of the games
he coaches, well above the all-time Green Bay Packer team average of
56%. Just to be on the safe side, the Packers Executive Committee did a
thorough background check on McCarthy to make sure “Mike” wasn’t just a
nickname, and his actual first name was Lindy, Forrest, Lisle, Gene or
heaven forbid, “Scooter.” Ideally, he’d be named Michael Vincent
McCarthy instead of Michael John McCarthy, but you can’t have
everything.
3) The Siberia Factor. How many times has it
been said that the Packers are about to return to being the “Siberia”
of the NFL, the grim, dark place no really good players, particularly
free agents, want to play. This almost seems like one of those
nonsensical “Urban Legends.” People posting these dire warnings usually
bring up the cold weather in Green Bay, and the small town atmosphere,
as being major turn-offs for today’s young pro football players. But
they never seem to come up with any evidence that the players
themselves feel this way. If weather were any factor at all, then
Arizona, Miami and San Diego would field consistently winning teams.
But they don’t.
As far as small town atmosphere, you can’t
discount the impact of being a friendly, welcoming place to live. As
Bob Harlan has said, it’s the warmest cold city in the country. And
here’s what first round draft choice Justin Harrell said about Green
Bay: “Just riding through the neighborhoods, it looks a lot like home
and it’s a place I know I’ll be able to get settled in and have a good
time.”
There was a classic story from the 1930’s about Packer
players saying how fortunate they were to live and work in Green Bay,
where there are so many great outdoor activities to enjoy—hunting,
fishing, etc., in contrast to being stuck playing in New York where
there was nothin’ to do. But it’s fair to say that players in those
days weren’t paid quite enough money to enjoy all the diversions and
delights available in the Big Apple.
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