At the end of last season, the Packers were playing as well as any team in the league, with wins over the Super Bowl champion Chiefs in early December and the Cowboys in the playoffs. We were the youngest team in the league and the youngest to win a playoff game since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, so it’s easy to assume we’ll be better this year. In the NFL, however, each year is independent and nothing is taken for granted. With such a young team, this year’s offseason program is especially important for us. Fortunately, we have had great participation in the offseason program so far. We are currently in phase 3 of our OTAs (Organized Team Activities).
Our voluntary nine-week offseason program began April 15. The program is designed to introduce players to football activities and minimize the number of injuries. The first part of the offseason program includes strength training, conditioning and meetings. We held a rookie minicamp after the draft and the rookies have been participating in OTAs ever since. We will be holding OTA off-season workouts through June 6, with our mandatory minicamp June 11-13. Then, all players will be out until the start of training camp. Rookies and selected players will report on July 17 and veterans on July 21.
Now let’s move on to your questions.
I read that the NFLPA is proposing to change the off-season schedule. What do you think of their proposal?
I’m glad you brought this up, Jon. This is not a formal proposal, but NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported recently that the NFLPA is working to finalize a proposal to change the offseason schedule, starting in 2025. Pelissero reports that the NFLPA has consulted medical and performance experts to create a solution to reduce injuries and maximize player recovery time. Under the potential proposal, meetings would be allowed in the spring, but no practices could take place until training camp. The NFLPA would begin training camp in late June (rather than mid-late July). There would be a significant ramp-up period that could prove helpful in avoiding the soft tissue injuries that plague some players during training camp.
Any changes to the offseason schedule or training camp should be collectively negotiated by the NFLPA and the league. As for what I think of the proposal, I really need to know more about the details and would like to see the research that supports the proposed change. Interestingly, the NFL is truly an outlier in terms of off-season programming compared to other sports. No other sport held offseason workouts. They have ramp-up periods before the season. However, football is much more physical than baseball or basketball, and having five to six weeks off before training camp begins is very beneficial for players. This should be a topic you hear a lot about over the next year.
Christine Luedke of Parts Unknown
I’m really glad you’re leaving the Packers, since you allowed green package ticket holders to be excluded from a home divisional game. The doublespeak about needing to give Gold ticket holders all the division’s home games just because. . . is B.S. Packer management can distribute these games however they want. In this case, you’ve said to hell with a 50-year-old green plan subscription holder. Good riddance to you and your management style.
I’m glad you raised this concern, Christine, as I’ve heard similar comments from other green plan subscription holders (although less direct). For years our policy has been that the Gold package gets the second and fifth home games. I believe this policy has served us well and, over time, has been fair to Gold and Green ticket holders. If we started offering Green ticket holders the second and fifth games, we would open ourselves up to criticism of favoritism from Gold and Green ticket holders. With the move to 17 games in 2022, we decided to alternate the ninth home game between the two packages, starting with the Gold package. We were scheduled to begin the 17th game rotation in 2022, but this game was designated as an international match. Since we played this game in London in 2022, this is our first year playing a ninth home game and therefore we start the rotation with the Gold package. The Green package will consist of seven games in 2026, unless we are not chosen to play another international match. So, this year, the Gold package includes three regular season games and no preseason games. I know you are unhappy with our policy and the schedule, which is set each year by the NFL, but you have several attractive games, including games against the NFC champion 49ers and the up-and-coming Texans.
Paul Miller of Brookfield
The Packers have won the NFL championship 13 times, more than any other team. We will open the season at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The stadium hosted the 2014 World Cup. Brazil is the only country to play in the final of every World Cup. The men’s team has won the World Cup five times, more than any other country in the world. Brazil frequently wears green and gold when taking the field. I look forward to the traditions of excellence in two different forms of football having a chance to connect when the Packers play.
The stadium is home to the Corinthians. Their main rival is Palmeiras (think Packers vs Bears). Palmeiras wears green. So there is a regulation that green cannot be worn in Arena Corinthians. Given the colors of the Packers and Eagles, this may need to be discussed when the Packers travel to Sao Paulo.
Thanks for bringing this up, Paul. I’ve heard several other people talk about Corinthians fans’ disdain for the color green. Unfortunately, the game in Brazil is the Eagles’ home game, so they will get to choose what color jersey they wear. Maybe we can convince them to wear their black jerseys, so they don’t have to wear green! We look forward to this historic match, no matter what color jersey we wear.
Hello Mark, I hope this message keeps you and your family well. I don’t want to bother you with this, but I haven’t been able to find the answer. Scott and I would very much like to attend this summer’s shareholders’ meeting. We did this a few years ago and loved the experience. We would like to come back to Green Bay this summer. However, I was unable to find the date of the general meeting. On the website it says this has not yet been determined. This was a bit surprising, but I thought maybe the site hadn’t been updated yet. We would like to work on our travel arrangements now.
Could you please let me know the date of the general meeting? If I remember correctly, it was related to the opening of training camp. Again, I apologize for bothering you when I can only imagine how busy you are, but I appreciate any insight you can give.
Thanks, Sue. No problem at all. Latest news, our annual meeting of shareholders will take place on Monday, July 22 at 3 p.m. Our first training camp will be that morning at 10:30 a.m. and we hope many shareholders will come to town for the weekend and stay to watch training and attend the meeting. Thanks again. I have very fond memories of your father when he was the athletic director at Clarence Central High School during my student years there.
Mark, as a lifelong die-hard Packer fan, I am of the opinion that most of us would do anything to work for the Packer organization. I’m not knocking other NFL teams, but for me there are 31 other teams, and then there’s the Green Bay Packers. As you approach retirement, do you still get that great feeling every time you walk into that building? From your arrival until now, Lambeau’s transformation has been unreal, and every addition is really good.
Being president of the Green Bay Packers just has to feel great and never becomes routine. My second question concerns your George Allen story. Was his coaching really that great, and if so, you need to have an opinion between great coaching and average coaching and recognize it when you see it. (As an aside, we all used to pay for neighborhood football when I grew up in Watertown and Monroe and we always picked a player that we were going to be when we played. That kid was always Mark Murphy. He had a (he kept a football card of you in his room and the problem was he wasn’t even a Washington fan at all. I knew who you were when I was young.)
As a lifelong Packer, I am grateful for the exceptional management you have always given us with the Packers. Just football the right way. I really hope you have a lot to say about who comes after you. This is going to be very important.
There is no doubt, Randy, that the Green Bay Packers are a unique and special organization. Lambeau Field is a big part of what makes the Packers special and I get a great feeling every time I walk into the stadium. As for George Allen, yes, he was a great coach. What really set him apart was his work ethic and passion for the game. He would do anything to help the team win. (He was a little old-school, though, in the sense that he didn’t believe in water cuts. He felt like they weakened you. Our coaches would furtively hand out ice cubes in towels to players.) When As I look back on my playing career, I was fortunate to play for two Pro Football Hall of Fame head coaches – George Allen and Joe Gibbs.