Some respect, please
A brouhaha developed in Green Bay this week when several players on injured reserve complained that the Packers were not taking them to the Super Bowl until Thursday and that they would not be included in the official team photo.
The Packers changed their plans. They will wait until their 15 players on injured reserve arrive in Dallas and will snap the photo Friday and include them.
That never has been a problem for the Steelers. Not only have they always included their players on injured reserve in the Super Bowl photo, those players are treated the same as all others. They fly on the team charter, which will leave Monday, and have the same accommodations. That is how it always has been.
"Of course," said offensive tackle Willie Colon, placed on injured reserve after his Achilles was ruptured in June. "That's how I think the other guys [in Green Bay] should be treated and not separated like that. A guy on IR, it's not his doing."
Offensive tackle Max Starks, placed on injured reserve Nov. 10 with a neck injury that required surgery, said what the Packers did "stinks."
"It's in the eyes of the organization. They've been doing this for a long time as well. If that's the way [the Packers] feel, that's the way they feel. I'm glad I'm in this organization and there's that respect.
"In this league every owner is different, and that's what makes some places more special than others, and that's why this is a special place because they include everybody. They realize everybody has put their hand in the pile at some point."