August 13, 2014 at 3:40 p.m.
Talking Titletown: Veteran sports reporter gives lecture in Northwoods
Talking Titletown: Veteran sports reporter gives lecture in Northwoods
Fans of the green and gold gathered at the Reiter Center in Three Lakes to talk football with someone who really knows her stuff.
Jessie Garcia spent more than two decades covering the team for Milwaukee's NBC affiliate and was in town promoting her new book, "My Life with the Green and Gold."
She showed a few clips of some of her favorite stories over the years, including some pieces about former University of Wisconsin head football coach Bret Bielema and current head coach Gary Andersen. When she opened the floor to questions though, the conversation was all about the Packers. She shared some insight into what it was like to work in the locker rooms at Lambeau Field.
"This isn't in the book and I didn't think of this until I already wrote the book," she said. "This happened in the locker room. People sometimes ask me who my least favorite Packer to interview was. I'm going to name this person's name, but only because this person refused to be interviewed. That was Sterling Sharpe.
"He had decided sometime before I got to town that the media was evil. Somebody had wronged him in some way and he wasn't going to talk to the media ever again. So when I came to town, I was told he wasn't going to do any interviews. One day in the locker room when my boss was in there too, he said, 'Hey, all of us have tried to get Sterling Sharpe to talk but he won't do it. You're the new person. Go over and ask him. Maybe he'll do an interview with you.' So I walk over there and I say, 'Excuse me, Mr. Sharpe. Can I interview you?' and he looked at me and he said, 'Nice try.'" Later he went into the media himself and I always wonder how he feels now that he's the one trying to interview people."
It wasn't long until the conversation turned to the most popular Packers, Green Bay's current QB, Aaron Rodgers, and the old gunslinger, Brett Favre.
"Favre, in the beginning of his career, I thought was fantastic," she said. "He was a really bright guy and he would do these really interesting press conferences. Later in his career, he got tired of doing these sorts of things. I had never seen an NFL team allow their main quarterback to be interviewed once every other week. Most NFL teams require their quarterback to be interviewed at least once a week. With Brett, the Packers decided they'd do it every other week for his last two or three years in Green Bay. That became very frustrating because he was never available and it was just because he got sick of it all."
For the most part though, Favre and Rodgers are more alike than fans might realize, Garcia said.
"Both are very smart guys and both were very goofy guys," Garcia said. "They're both the pranksters in the locker room. Brett used to put the plastic rat in somebody's shoe or that type of thing. He would even let off a stink bomb in the locker room. Aaron is the one who does all the photo bombing. That's his big thing. He'll stand behind somebody when they're taking a picture. (Coach Mike) McCarthy has a wall of photos of every time he photo bombed the captains. Before every game, there's Aaron sticking his head up there. Sometimes he's wearing something funny like a pirate hat and they keep a running record of that."
She talked about failed draft picks and about special moments. She addressed her favorite trade (Favre) and her favorite draft pick (Rodgers), but mostly spoke of the team she covered for decades with a fond remembrance.
It may still be the preseason, but for a little while in Three Lakes, for Packers fans, Lambeau was already alive again.
Andy Hildebrand may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.