August 1, 2016 at 3:09 p.m.
Diary of a Packers' media corps rookie
Diary of a Packers' media corps rookie
That's not meant to be a boast or brag, I take the privilege quite seriously and am grateful for the opportunity. With a little luck, I'll be able to attend some preseason and regular season games as well.
But what I wanted to do in this week's column - and perhaps a few more times later this season - is take you to these events through my eyes. We all focus on the end product that comes out on the field each weekend, but so far, I've found some of the behind-the-scenes stuff just as interesting. It's opening my eyes to a world that I wasn't fully aware of from the fan perspective.
Shareholder's meeting
This day is best summed up in two words: wet and hot.
Thursday, July 21 began with a line of severe thunderstorms that pummeled the Northwoods leaving several, including my parents in Conover, without power for days.
While we were lucky to escape the brunt of the storm at the Mayo homestead, I was hot on its heels all the way to Green Bay as I drove down that morning. I could still see the occasional bolt of lightning as I pulled into the Lambeau Field parking lot. Rookie mistake No. 1: I decided to go with the flow of traffic and park on the north side of the stadium on Ridge Street. My rendezvous point for credentials was on the opposite end of the stadium. Fighting the rain that was still coming down, I trotted over to the south end, went through the loading dock and into the bowels of Lambeau for the first time.
Once I picked up my credentials, I made rookie mistake No. 2. Knowing the forecast called for heat indices in the triple digits, I wisely hydrated before and during the trip. However, what comes in must eventually come out. After about five minutes of poking around, I finally broke down and asked for directions to the nearest restroom. Turns out I had walked right past it in the receiving area of the stadium.
Though I was releived of one issue, it turned out the storm wasn't quite done with me that morning. Due to lightning in the vicinity, the Packers delayed the start of the meeting by 30 minutes and kept all fans and media out of the stadium bowl until 11 a.m. We were directed to wait out the delay in the media conference room. If you have ever watched clips of a Packers' press conference, this is where it takes place. Picture a small lecture room, that's what the conference room looks like. Each seat had access to power and Internet for those working on a deadline. At the back of the room was a small set, no bigger than 3 or 4 feet across, where the NFL Network conducts its "Team Cam" segments for its show.
The few members of the media present, mainly television crews, joked a bit about the weather and talked shop until we got the OK to enter the stadium.
We walked onto the field through the same tunnel at the southwest corner of the stadium that the Packers walk through on gameday. Cross that item off my bucket list.
As for the event itself, it wasn't my first shareholder's meeting, so I knew what to expect. General manager Ted Thompson pandered to the crowd for a bit, saying nothing of substance, really. Team president Mark Murphy then took the podium and delivered the only real bombshell of the day - that the Packers had applied to host the NFL Draft in 2019, 2020 or 2021.
Do I think the Packers' will get to host a draft? I'm not going to hold my breath. While the Packers' wear the fact that they reside in the league's smallest market like a badge of honor, it does have its drawbacks - namely the number of hotel rooms available compared to much larger cities. The Titletown district project will help add some more rooms right next to the stadium, but it's still a logistical problem I foresee handicapping the Packers' chances.
At least half of the crowd dispersed once Murphy finished his remarks. Half the media did too. Rob Demovsky, the Packers' beat writer for ESPN, was near my vantage point during the early stages of the meeting. Later, as the team was discussing its financials and charitable work, I got a notification on my phone regarding Demovsky's story on ESPN regarding the Packers' Draft application. Talk about a quick turnaround. He had the right idea. The heat that was forecasted finally arrived during the final 30 minutes of the meeting and it became quite steamy down on the stadium floor. Good thing I hydrated.
Training camp
Here's a confession, despite being a lifelong Packers' fan, I had never attended a training camp practice before this year.
Last Tuesday, as the Packers opened their 2016 camp, I crossed another item off the list. I found getting into the stadium rather easy and quickly grabbed my cameras to catch a camp tradition - players riding kids' bikes. I particularly liked a couple of shots I got of Randall Cobb riding in on a bicycle, shots that appeared in both the River News and Lakeland Times last week.
I made my way to Ray Nitschke Field and settled in for the practice. Of the 2-hour, 18-minute session, we were allowed to shoot roughly 40 minutes of the more vanilla portions - such as stretching and individual drills. What, do they think we're on the New England Patriots' payroll or something?
All kidding aside, the sessions we were able to shoot provided some excellent photo opportunities, some of which may hang from my wall at home some day.
While it was cool watching the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, Eddie Lacy (who does look lean and mean in person), Cobb and company go about their business, I'll admit I was equally in awe of the people I saw on the sidelines watching the practice. Perhaps it's the media nerd in me, but the list read like a who's who of folks on the Packers' beat - Wayne Larrivee, Larry McCarren, Demovsky, AP beat writer Genaro Armas, Johnnie Gray and others.
My trip to camp came two days before to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan's appearance. The most notable celebrity apperance during my time at camp was Andy North - ESPN analyst, two-time U.S. Open golf champion and fanatic of all things Wisconsin sports.
Practice itself was surprisingly hot, and where the media was stationed on the side of the field across from the bleachers provided virtually no refuge from the sun, which beat down on our faces. The only bit of shade was behind a light post, which several media members and guests utilized at one point or another. Unlike the shareholder's meeting, I did not properly hydrate for Tuesday's camp, fresh off an exhilarating snowshoe baseball media game in Lake Tomahawk the night before.
I finally snatched a bottle of water from a hospitality tent, which got me to the end of practice.
As for the practice itself, I can't say I took much away that was earth-shattering. The setup itself was not much different than the prep practice I'll watch later today when the RHS football team hits the field for the first time this season.
Two things stood out, however. During the team tackling drill, the Packers utilized, donut-shaped tackling bags, which a coach could roll to simulate tackling a moving target. The shape of the bag also forced players to wrap up the target and drag it to the ground.
At the end of practice, the backs, receivers and tight ends spent extra time catching passes from the JUGS machine, which automatically shoots footballs in their direction. Most interesting was a drill I overheard Cobb refer to as "man hands." The receivers walked right up next to the JUGS machine, stuck their hands literally inches from the shooting mechanism and caught passes.
Family Night
Pregame brought more discovery of the underbelly of Lambeau Field. Luckily, this time, I had a guide. Laura Harvey from the Antigo Daily Journal accompanied me for the trip. A multi-year veteran of shooting Packers games, she showed me some of the ins and outs and told me what to expect. She showed me the work media rooms where everyone on deadline works feverishly to pound out stories or send photos back to their company's servers. Turns out Demovsky has his own little spot in one of the work rooms - adorned w/ plenty of "Sportscenter" logos and a miniature foam hand with his name on it.
After dropping off gear for a moment, we moved to one of the most important rooms in the media center - the media dining room. We media folks, like any good troops, march on our stomaches and the dining room had the signature "Jumbo Dogs" to munch on, along with fountain sodas and popcorn. I'm told the spread is fancier on actually gamedays, but I've never met a Jumbo Dog I didn't like, so I took two.
Well-nourished, I made my way to the stadium bowl for the practice - and that's what it is nowadays, a practice. When Family Night started back in the 1990s, it was a true intrasquad scrimmage. Given the Packers' luck with preseason injuries, and that they have five preseason games this year, I get why the format has changed, but I still can't say I'm a fan.
For as well as the team said the offense looked in the first week of camp, it looked a little ho-hum to me, with the only touchdown coming in a mock two-minute drill as Rodgers found Cobb from four yards out. That led to the lone Lambeau Leap of the night and a race among the media assembled in the north end zone to get in position to get some shots. I held my own in this mad dash and got a couple of shots in (see right).
I haven't had a chance to watch the TV coverage of the event, so I can't speak for how well this story was covered, but I can tell you firsthand that the quarterback group has healthy competition in whatever it does. During two of the special teams sessions, the quarterbacks played mini games on the south end of the field, During the first session, the quarterbacks tried to hit basketball hoop-shaped targets in the corner of the end zone, to simulate floating the ball into a receiver on a fade route. Rodgers only put two of his throws in the net, but hit the rim on several other occasions. Brett Hundley had a string of makes early in the game and was quick to let Rodgers know about it with some good-natured ribbing. Rodgers made amends, however, with a make from 40 yards on the final throw of the session.
Later on, the quarterbacks played a makeshift game of horseshoes with a couple of end zone pylons placed just inside the numbers at the 10-yard line. The object of the game was to knock down the pylon. Three points were awarded if they hit it on the fly, one point for a hit on the bounce. Again, the quarterbacks traded playful jabs from across the field.
Honestly, the coolest part of the event was the fireworks and light display that followed the show. I've been to a couple of Family Nights, and seen plenty on TV, but can't remember seeing one quite like that.
Also, afterward, many of the players hung around with their families to watch the show. The Crosbys, Nelsons and Langs were all on the field, among others.
It's been an awesome experience with three Packers events in the books. I'll be back at practice Wednesday and can't wait to move into preseason and regular season contests.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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