by Jason Wilde

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – Tom Crabtree considers himself an optimist, so the tight end believes that the NFL lockout will be resolved soon, and he and his Green Bay Packers teammates will be back on the practice field when training camp opens on July 30.

On Sunday, he had to settle for a softball diamond.

For the first time since winning Super Bowl XLV, the Packers were back together on a field – despite the NFL’s ongoing labor unrest – playing in veteran wide receiver Donald Driver’s annual charity softball game at Fox Cities Stadium.
“We were all just happy to see each other. It’d been awhile,” Crabtree said. “Nobody – fans, owners, players – nobody wants to see this thing cut into camp time, which could cut into the season. No one wants to see that. I’m hoping it happens soon – just one day, out of the blue, slow news day, there’s a deal. That’s my hopeful outlook.”
Until then, about two dozen Packers players had to settle for the softball game, which marked the first time that many players have been together since the “Return to Titletown” welcome home event following their 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Feb. 6.

“You can tell how much we miss each other,” Driver said. “We’re throwing the ball around out there like it’s a football. If I had a crystal ball, I could tell you what’s going to happen (with the lockout). No one knows. But we will play football. I know that.”

With the NFL lockout in its third month and wiping out teams’ offseason strength and conditioning programs, organized team activity practices and minicamps, the Packers are among the teams whose players have not gotten together for player-organized workouts during the lockout.

“It was great seeing all the guys again. It’s been a weird offseason, not being around everybody, so it was good getting back out here and just having fun with guys on the team,” said kicker Mason Crosby, one of the Packers’ free agents stuck in limbo while league transactions are stopped. “Seeing everyone out here, it felt like the chemistry is still there. I think we’re still riding off of (last) season. It felt good to get around the guys and get that camaraderie again.”
The event, which former Packers quarterback Brett Favre started before Driver took over as host following Favre’s March 2008 retirement from the team, benefits Donald Driver Foundation, Special Olympics, Goodwill, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and other local charities. Since Driver took over the event, it has raised more than $450,000 over the last three years, and organizers were hoping to raise $200,000 Sunday, when the event’s first sellout crowd of 8.349 attended.
The Driver-led offense lost to the defense, 18-16, in the seven-inning game despite a pair of home runs by Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers.

“I think guys are getting antsy, but I think they understand that we don’t have control over (the lockout),” running back Ryan Grant said. “What we do have control over is making sure we’re ready to go and working out so that whenever it does get settled, we’ll take care of our business. I know guys are doing their part. It’s a little different for us because nobody really lives around here and we’re all spread out. The guys that I’ve spoken to, I know they’re working.”

While a number of teams’ players around the league have gotten together for workouts, the Packers are not among them. A group of offensive linemen, led by veteran center Scott Wells and veteran left tackle Chad Clifton, got together in Nashville last week, and Crosby and punter Tim Masthay have been working out together at the Green Bay YMCA and a local Gold’s Gym while kicking at St. Norbert College, an NCAA Division III school in the Green Bay suburb of De Pere.
Masthay said that while having no OTAs or minicamp has not been ideal, the team should have enough time to prepare for the season as long as training camp opens on July 30, as scheduled.

“I think if you lost part of training camp, you’d really start feeling like the preparation is less than what you need,” Masthay said. “But at the same time, everyone would be in the same boat, so it’d be a level playing field in that regard.
“That’s what I think is the most difficult thing about it – getting prepared and feeling prepared. That’s why we’ve been working together; that’s why we’ve been trying to keep things fairly similar to what a normal offseason would be like. Obviously you can’t simulate it down to a T, but we’re trying to.”

Rodgers said in a recent radio interview that the players might need to get together if the lockout isn’t resolved soon, and both Grant and safety Nick Collins said it will be Rodgers’ call.

“I know a lot of guys are getting antsy, but we’re professionals. We know what we need to do to stay in shape,” Collins said. “Once we get that call (we’ll) be ready for training camp. ‘A-Rod’ is the leader. If he wants to call and get something going, we’re right there for him. Right now, everybody’s kind of doing what they’ve been doing. It’s been successful for us so we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Four rookie draft picks – cornerback Davon House, outside linebacker Ricky Elmore, inside linebacker D.J. Smith and tight end D.J. Williams – participated in the game, making their unofficial Packers debuts since the annual post-draft rookie orientation camp was canceled because of the lockout.

“I wish I could stay here for more than just today,” said House, a fourth-round pick. “But as soon as the lockout is over, I'll be here the next flight I can catch.”

Elmore, a sixth-round pick, not only is making the transition from the University of Arizona to the NFL, but he’s also moving from defensive end in a 4-3 to a standup outside linebacker in a 3-4.

“I hope something comes to a conclusion or I can at least be in contact with these coaches so I can at least talk to them and get the basics down so when I walk in here I’m not walking in here not knowing anything,” Elmore said. “If it happens, it happens. If I don’t know anything, I can’t control it. I’m just going to worry about things I can control.”
Elmore said he tried to get his hands on one of defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ complicated playbook, but he can’t afford the fine he’d incur if he kept one.

“No one has ‘em. They said if we keep them, they’re (fined) $16,000,” Elmore said. “I understand why no one keeps them.”
Three players who suffered significant injuries last season participated in the game: Grant, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury but has been 100 percent since late winter; defensive end Mike Neal, who played just two games because of a shoulder injury; and Driver, who missed the second half of Super Bowl XLV with a severe high ankle sprain. Tight end Jermichael Finley, who played just four games before suffering a season-ending knee injury, attended the game but did not participate, while cornerback Charles Woodson, who suffered a broken collarbone in the Super Bowl, was scheduled to attend but was absent.

The next time the players will be together is June 16, when the team will present them with their Super Bowl rings in a private ceremony at Lambeau Field. The team is paying for the airfare of each player plus a guest to bring the full squad together for the event, and the club received special permission from the league to allow players and coaches/administrators to commiserate despite the lockout.

“I call this my second family, and I haven’t seen a lot of these guys since the Super Bowl, so it’s just great to be back around them,” second-year tight end Andrew Quarless said. “You see everybody with smiles from ear-to-ear, because we’re all having fun.”

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