Occasionally, in Big NFL Media, we are granted a perfect storm.
Indeed, anything goes, it seems. If it’s whispered, if it’s pondered, if it’s suspected — by someone who may or may not truly know what’s going on — there’s a good chance you will hear about it or read about it if you are someone who generally consumes NFL content.
And right now, my friends, we are right at the vortex of one of those perfect storms. Perhaps the likes of which we have never seen before, given where society is in regards to social media and how information gets dispensed and consumed.
A first-ballot Hall of Famer whose bust should also one day reside in the Grievance — or perceived grievance — Hall of Fame, versus an iconic franchise that also managed to botch the exodus of their last first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback, Brett Favre.
Yes, the “Brian Gutekunst recast as Jerry Krause” stuff is juicy, as is the idea that the release of a journeyman receiver with 21 catches in his career truly careened us to the point where Team Rodgers hijacked the first round of the NFL draft to begin disseminating its talking points in the battle for the hearts and minds of Cheesehead Nation.
Packers, for those old enough to remember the days of Ed Werder staked out on the gunslinger’s farm, and with Rodgers’s own deep, public feud with his family a subplot of sorts as well, and you have an arena where so much grudge-holding can be projected force.
It’s too soon to know the absolute end game of it all, but I wouldn’t rule out Rodgers going to great lengths to force his way out of Green Bay and into whatever situation he deems most superior.
Despite all of the chatter about Guty, lately, numerous sources close to that team have told me for years that Rodgers was not a fan of Ball’s, a former strength coach who rose up the ranks and has overseen the cap, contracts and negotiations for years.
Murphy was the architect of the front-office realignment, he is the de facto owner — he and the team’s board are in charge.
Based on my reporting, I’d pin the blame — in Rodgers’ estimation — not so much on any one individual but the overall decision-makers in Green Bay, their lack of foresight and bedside manner with the Love selection, and their ham-handed attempts to then message that draft pick both in the media and privately.
The concept that merely throwing Guty to the wolves makes this all go away and placates the QB just doesn’t hold up.
That lack of one true owner could end up being another complication to mitigating this mounting disaster, and stopping the flow of sordid details will be impossible to manage at this point.
Only one of them won a Super Bowl as the quarterback of the franchise and threw for nearly 50 touchdowns last year in an MVP season.