Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports that Packers president Mark Murphy said Monday hes disappointed with the teams 4-4 start, especially Sundays shocking loss at Tampa Bay, and wants to make sure changes are made. The former NFL player turned executive, who took over the Packers in January 2008, believes the season can be salvaged. He also may have put head coach Mike McCarthy on notice. Were 4-4 halfway through the season, Murphy said, and I think we can still have a successful year just making sure that we make the changes that are necessary to get us to that point.
I thought the job of the Packers president was to be seen and not heard. I dont remember former Packers president Bob Harlan ever speaking about the football team directly to the media. I might be wrong, and all loyal Packers readers are welcome to correct me, but from my vantage point, the team president doesnt have to state the obvious. Mark Murphy appears that he wants to be more involved in the football part of the program as the new president. Anyone other than the head coach talking to the media can send the wrong message to the fan base as evidenced by Murphys comments.
What changes would Murph like the Packers to make? Does he really understand the problems? I highly doubt it, and the way to create bad blood in an organization is to say something that makes no sense when you have no idea what youre saying. Im fairly confident that the Packers coaches are cynical about these comments.
There was a reason Bob Harlan never addressed football issues during the season.