What the hell is going on out there?! The off-the-field exploits of Johnny Jolly and now Brandon Underwood are making the Packers look like the Pittsburgh Steelers or Cincinnati Bengals. Enough is enough. The Packers should cut ties with both players right now. In Jolly’s case all they have to do is withdraw the tender they offered him that he never signed. They don’t even have to cut him. In Underwood’s case, word came out he has been trouble since day one so letting him go is no big deal either.
Underwood garnered praise from head coach Mike McCarthy last week but it wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement. Underwood was a sixth round draft choice who only saw the field last year because of injuries. If you can remember a play he made you are a better man than me. The Packers are possibly on the verge of great things and they need to nip this in the bud immediately. Responding rapidly will certainly send a message.
What pisses me off is that the names of the six players who did nothing wrong were dragged through the mud. To even think players like Matt Flynn or Clay Matthews or Brad Jones would be involved in something so stupid is ridiculous. Matthews must be thinking “what is coming next?” First he is accused by association of taking steroids in light of the Brian Cushing affair, now this. At least Matthews stood his ground.
Sounding like a seasoned veteran Matthews had this to say: “Unfortunately one person kind of put himself in a situation that kind of dampened this weekend a little bit. It is unfortunate, there’s no doubt about it. But everybody showed up today, trying to move forward, trying to put that behind us and wipe our hands clean.” Matthews was speaking at the Donald Driver charity softball game.
That kind of reminded me of the Peyton Manning and his “idiot kicker” quote. Matthews is the real deal and barring injury should be a Packers’ great for years to come. Hopefully Jones can be good enough to take some of double-teams off CM3 to allow him to continue to make big plays.
But with that said, the Packers need to act now and be done with it. I mean come on! Jolly wearing gangsta clothes to court? I’m an owner and I don’t want that on my team. The only person dumber than Jolly is his lawyer. Now that his trial has been postponed to the opening day of training camp, do the Packers really want that distraction? I think not. So long and good luck with your future endeavors Mr. Jolly.
To quote McCarthy – “the train has left the station.”