Today is the 34th anniversary of the signing of Tony Mandarich. I still remember how happy I was when the holdout tackle finally signed a contract with Green Bay. Needless to say, that was the very last time I felt that emotion regarding the second overall pick in the 1988 draft. Anyway, here are a few more Packers-related thoughts that ran through my mind in recent days:
1) Brian Gutekunst is similar to Ted Thompson in numerous ways, but when it comes to relying on players from outside the organization, the student and the teacher are as different as night and day. In 2015, only six players on Thompson’s initial 53-man roster had spent a single day with another franchise, and five of the six had never played a game for that team. Julius Peppers was the lone exception. In 2022, nearly a quarter of the roster consists of outsiders, the majority of whom are expected to be significant contributors this season (Marcedes Lewis, Randall Cobb, Sammy Watkins, Allen Lazard, Jarran Reed, De’Vondre Campbell, Preston Smith, Rasul Douglas, Adrian Amos, and Patrick O’Donnell). Which way is right? That’s difficult to say. While Gutekunst’s philosophy feels more in tune with what’s happening around the rest of the National Football League, Thompson’s vision led to the franchise’s only championship in the past quarter century.
2) A cynic would say that Gutekunst kept defensive lineman Jonathan Ford, tackle Rasheed Walker, and safety Tariq Carpenter on the 53-man roster solely because they were draft picks. Well, that person would be right. Jack Heflin, Caleb Jones, and Micah Abernathy were clearly the better players this summer. Nevertheless, it’s unfair to be overly critical of the decisions. Teams spend a fortune preparing for every draft, and countless hours of hard work go into each selection. That Gutekunst would want to give those players every benefit of the doubt is quite understandable. And to be perfectly fair, it’s not as if Heflin, Jones, and Abernathy looked like the next Reggie White, David Bakhtiari, and LeRoy Butler. Plus, all three youngsters wound up on the practice squad, so at the end of the day, all’s well that ends well.
3) It was nice to see Greg Jennings and Timothy Harris inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame over the weekend. The honor was well deserved for both players, and it was fitting they went in together because it’s difficult to recall two former greats who are less beloved by the fan base. Despite recording 55 sacks in five seasons and being one of the few bright spots on some awful teams in the 1980s, Harris hated his time in Green Bay and eventually forced a trade to the 49ers. As for Jennings, his constant badmouthing of star quarterback Aaron Rodgers after leaving the organization in 2013 has left him the recipient of little goodwill despite catching 59 touchdowns for the Packers, including a pair in Super Bowl XLV. Still, last Friday night proved that even their really big mouths couldn’t overshadow their really big achievements.
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I remember being glad when the Packers won the last game of the season giving the cowboys the first overall pick and moving the Packers to the second. I really wanted Mandarich over Aikman because we needed OL help and I thought Majkowski was going to be a very good QB. Oh well, if we had got Aikman or Barry Sanders we probably wouldn’t have gotten Wolf, Holmgren or Favre.
Big mouths shouldn’t overshadow the big talent both Harris and Jennings provided, both belong in the Packer HOF.