Don't Be the Problem: Finding Middle Ground and Bringing a Title Back to Titletown
How will the pairing of Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur mold Green Bay?
These are uncertain times in Green Bay.
Any time a regime change happens in football, there is trepidation about how things are going to go. When you take that same environment and overlay it upon a community so invested in winning that its literal nickname is Titletown, the scrutiny applied to the situation is magnified hundredfold.
Such is the current case with the Packers. Victims to the first such changeover at the head coach position in nearly a decade and a half, the current roster knows the nature of uncertainty all too well. Just ask the multitude of veteran players who've been cut or shipped away from the Dairyland via trade.
Yet, amidst the chaos, nothing is more uncertain than the relationship between quarterback Aaron Rodgers and new head coach Matt LaFleur. And rightly so, given that it was the souring of a relationship between Rodgers and former coach Mike McCarthy that led to the regime change in the first place.
As has been well documented by the news media and my own Packers beat writing, McCarthy was fired this past season shortly after losing to the lowly Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals went on to achieve the worst record in football in 2018.
So, how did Green Bay get here? McCarthy's stale play-calling definitely contributed. But so did Rodgers' willingness to defy said play-calling, procuring his own brand of backyard ball.
The result was a scheme that was largely a dud and totally reliant on Aaron Rodgers' magic, which became especially problematic when nasty collarbone injuries kept him out for long stretches during the 2013 and 2017 seasons.
Now, cracks of that same defiance are beginning to peek through in the Rodgers-LaFleur marriage.
As NFL.com's Mike Silver expounds upon the situation, Rodgers and LaFleur are trying to get along. They're trying to find a happy medium between the system (drawn from the minds of LaFleur's friends Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVey, relying heavily on pre-snap movement) and the genius improvisational skills of the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
LaFleur: "…we've never really had a quarterback who's had complete freedom to change plays at the line, because that's not really the way the offense is set up. But, I mean, this is Aaron Rodgers."
Rodgers: "It's a conversation in progress. I don't think you want to ask me to turn off 11 years (of recognizing defenses)."
Full quotes and greater context can be found in Silver's piece linked above, but the message is clear: things are still a work in progress.
I have some hope this can be done, but can also sense palpable danger bubbling just below the surface.
After all, battle lines are already being drawn. The quarterback that had preceded Rodgers at the helm, Brett Favre, asserts that his successor need not do anything different.
"Aaron will be fine…The question is, how will they handle it with him?" Favre said.
And there's not shortage of folks in the punditry who have their doubts about how things are going to pan out under the new regime. Hell, this episode of First Take didn't even need Stephen A. Smith to reach a titanic crescendo about the legacy of Rodgers and the contending capability of his organization.
However, the silver lining provided by Silver is this: things are relatively rosy. LaFleur is willing to cede some ground and Rodgers is excited about the strides he and the team might make in a McVey-style offense. Rightfully so. The Rams made the Super Bowl this past February, as woeful as their final performance may've been.
Other players are excited as well, as Davante Adams expresses, "There's a lot of big play potential—a lot of things that are gonna scheme me to be open." This coming from a man who had 111 receptions, 1,386 receiving yards, and 13 touchdowns last year.
And yet, the (heavily disputed) words of Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy can't fall by the wayside: "Don't be the problem." Murphy was speaking of Rodgers. Having been on virtually every level during the contentious departure of McCarthy, he's seen how much trouble the quarterback has the potential to produce.
So, what's the bottom line? Well as of right now, uncertainty may be the name of the game, but the equation is also a simple one: don't be the problem, find that middle ground, and bring a title back to Titletown.
I Support Ilhan Omar's Right To Question Israel And So Should You
Those condemning her are in the wrong.
Over the past couple weeks, there has been a lot of controversy in the halls of Congress over remarks made by freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Min.). This controversy stems from comments she has made about Israel and the influence of pro-Israel lobbying from groups such as AIPAC. Rep. Omar has been accused of anti-Semitism for these comments, drawing ire from both sides of the aisle.
Those condemning her are in the wrong.
Of course, anti-Semitism is a despicable ideology, and it is still very much a prevalent concern. But at what point can we allow legitimate criticism of Israel become stomped out with claims of anti-Semitism? Israel is an important ally of the United States in the Middle East, with the US largely turning a blind eye to the atrocities carried out by Israel on the Palestinian people. In fact, as it is shown in Rep. Omar's case, because of our relationship to Israel, legitimate criticism of the nation is often mischaracterized as anti-Semitism and stifled.
Omar, who is pro-Palestine, is the newest target of heavy pro-Israel political action in our nation. The language she used has come under fire, with her comments said to have played into anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish monetary influence and "dual loyalty." But the censure of her language just distracts from Rep. Omar's message is — and kind of proves her point. The main talking point around her statements was not about Israel's actions against Palestine or an examination of the USA/Israel relationship, but whether Rep. Omar is an anti-Semite hiding in the halls of our government. Not only this, but there is a very strong double standard, which stems from reasons that range from both party lines to Rep. Omar's identity as a Muslim woman.
One example of this is the now-mainstream conservative conspiracy that billionaire George Soros is the financier behind liberal political movements, which has even been peddled by President Donald Trump WHILE in office. This conspiracy is based on the anti-Semitic trope that the Jewish people influence global politics through financial means, with Soros being accused of paying people to protest school shootings to funding a caravan of Central American migrants.
Another example of this double standard is the blind eye turned towards other members of Congress who have publicly made anti-Semitic comments, such as Republican lawmakers Kevin McCarthy and Steve King. The failure to condemn them while attempting to take down Ilhan Omar is hypocritical, and one rooted in an ulterior motive that is cloaked in false concern.
This is why we should support Rep. Ilhan Omar and commend her for speaking out. She knew she would get backlash for her comments, and her willingness to deal with the political firestorm to share her support for the suffering Palestinian people is a great display of bravery and a shining beacon of hope much needed in Congress and in liberal politics alike.