Rookie TE Quarless thanks God in writing
Green Bay When Andrew Quarless had the word "God's" tattooed on his right arm and "Gift" on his left, he should have anticipated the reaction.
Several personnel men for National Football League teams brought up the tattoos this spring in describing a tight end they saw as talented but conceited.
Quarless, the Green Bay Packers' fifth-round draft choice, heard much the same thing around the Penn State campus.
"The way it was being portrayed, it bothered me a lot," Quarless said Friday. "I wanted to stop it so I wouldn't have to explain it."
So after last season Quarless went back to the tattoo parlor and asked the artist to add the letter "s" so the tattoo on his left arm would read "Gifts."
"I grew up in a Christian household," said Quarless, a native of Uniondale, N.Y. "I was always taught to give God thanks for things he's blessed me with. The way I approached it, God's gifts were my blessings.
"The way I was being portrayed, I wasn't even thinking anything like that. That was the last thing."
Quarless, one of the most athletic tight ends in the draft, slipped to the fifth round mainly because his record off the field was so spotty. He was cited for underage drinking in 2007, arrested on a drunken driving charge in 2008 and involved in a drug bust at his apartment later that year.
Although Quarless was merely the 11th tight end selected, he wouldn't acknowledge that the only player taken in the first round, Oklahoma's Jermaine Gresham, was better than him.
"I don't think so," said Quarless. "A lot of guys are pass-catching tight ends that don't block anything. At Penn State, I was always taught to block first and catch second. I think I'm able to catch just like the best of them. I think I was the most versatile tight end.
"I'm going to work hard. We'll see at the end of the day which tight ends excel."
Quarless said that after the DUI he didn't use alcohol for two years until he had a toast with his family shortly before the draft.
Asked if he was an alcoholic, Quarless said, "Well, I actually had to go to an AA meeting, so I guess so. And when I first sat down with the counselors I told them, 'I haven't had a drink in over a year. I don't think I have a problem.'
"And she said, 'Just the fact it happened.' If I was 21, both of those situations might have been different because of where my (alcohol) levels were. I was never lying over in the middle of the street."
Quarless turned 21 in October.
Winning the starting job as a true freshman in 2006 led to what Quarless called "big-headedness" and a "little bit of a reckless lifestyle." Later, he would enter a 15-month rehabilitation program in which he attended classes on alcohol abuse and met with counselors weekly for about two months.
"This is similar to State College (Pa.) as far as atmosphere," said Quarless. "I know they do a lot of drinking out here, too. That's the good thing about not drinking . . . body feeling good and coming to practice and not having to worry about hangovers and things like that."
At midweek, a personnel director for another team offered this assessment of Quarless' up-and-down career.
"He's kind of a play-to-play guy," the executive said. "One play you see it, the next play it's almost embarrassing with his lack of effort. There's no sense of urgency in him. His hands can be hit-and-miss, too. That's not a skill issue. It's a focus issue."
Staff additions: Mike McCarthy completed his coaching staff this spring by adding two members to the strength and conditioning department under Mark Lovat and Dave Redding.
Thadeus Jackson replaced Mondray Gee as the No. 3 man. Gee took a job with the Seattle Seahawks after last season.
Jackson had been strength coach at Hinds (Miss.) Community College.
The other addition is Darren Krein, 38, who was the Seahawks' assistant strength coach for 11 years. In Seattle, he worked under Kent Johnston, the Packers' strength coach from 1992-'98.
Krein spent two months as a defensive end with the Packers in 1995 before being waived.