Some absolutely great stuff in here about Rison and Favre's commentary prior to them getting together for the SB run. So interesting to see how this was panned and ripped. It was 180 from the gloom and doom of this article. A great read in retrospect.

from baltimoresun.com

November 24, 1996|By Vito Stellino | Vito Stellino,SUN STAFF
Desperate teams tend to do desperate things.

Like signing wide receiver Andre Rison.

Desperate is about the best description of the Green Bay Packers' decision to claim Rison off waivers after he was cut loose by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It was an obvious overreaction to the team's disappointing loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night.

Team president Bob Harlan said that general manager Ron Wolf came up to him on the bus after the game and suggested bringing in Rison. Harlan, who runs the administrative side and leaves the football decisions to Wolf, said it was his call.

The Packers, who tried to sign Rison as a free agent a year ago, showed no interest when the Ravens cut him last summer.

But coach Mike Holmgren was desperate after his injury-riddled wide receiving corps caught only seven of 21 passes thrown to them Monday night.

The addition of Rison, though, is likely to be a cure that's worse than the illness.

It's hard to imagine a worse fit for the Packers than Rison. It's hard to imagine him running the disciplined routes needed for the West Coast offense. His habit of being late or skipping meetings isn't likely to be popular in Green Bay, either.

Then there's his relationship with quarterback Brett Favre.

It was just last August that Favre said he was happy the Packers didn't sign him.

"We saved a lot of money, and a lot of heartache because he was a problem internally," Favre said.

Rison later replied that if he were a defensive player, "I'd try to break his face."

Rison also said of Favre, "Maybe a couple of years ago, I would have said he's a hillbilly jealous of a black man making money. But now I'm at this age. No comment."

Favre said this week: "I don't know how that story got started last year. We were just laughing about it now at practice. How things get blown out of proportion. I'm happy he's here."

That's the way things always start with Rison. He always says he just needs a fresh start.

Holmgren said he even brushed off Rison when he started to explain his past problems.

"I said, 'Stop. We're going to approach this from a different way here. You and I are together for the first time. We start new,' " Holmgren said.

Rison said: "You don't have to worry about any griping or arguing about getting the ball or this or that, because the opportunity is there for me now."

Rison said similar things last summer when Jacksonville claimed him. Nobody ever figured he'd be a good fit with Jacksonville coach Tom Coughlin, whose no-nonsense approach figured to wear thin on Rison. It didn't help that Rison tested Coughlin's patience by running the wrong patterns in Jacksonville.

When Coughlin was asked a few questions about Rison on a conference call with Baltimore reporters, Coughlin finally cut it off by saying, "I'm not going to answer any more questions about Andre Rison."

---