Lombardi's principals included changes in social justice while also embracing law and order. He did want social improvements, but as long as it didn't affect his ability to win championships. You mentioned Kaepernick. I'm not sure what Lombardi would have thought. Lombardi was on the forefront of Rozelle's initiative to have players stand for the national anthem, so he probably would not have liked it. Then again, Lombardi sympathized with the plight of minorities struggling for acceptance and equal footing in America. He was a man at both ends of the wick.
With Rodgers, he certainly would have shipped him out of town like he did Jim Ringo. That was a different era. The last totalitarian coach in the NFL was Tom Coughlin, who compared to the coaches of the 1950s and 60s would have been considered a sissy. Coughlin did win two Super Bowls, but his approach is more of an outlier these days than a roadmap to NFL coaching success. Yes the players need to be managed, but thoughtfully. Yes the players need leadership, but not without empathy. It's a different age of humanity. People what strong leaders, but not those who blindly trample on individual freedoms for an organizational goal. What Nixon and Lombardi didn't understand was that people didn't lack a respect for authority. They lacked respect for the type of authority that was in place.
I believe that the Packers have good leaders both on the team and at least on the coaching staff. I've never really heard enough from the current front office to know if they are good leaders, but I do think that they have continued to steer the Packers in the right direction. It's possible that they are too much like you are advocating for....'This is the way we are doing it and if you don't like it tough.' That obviously didn't work for Rodgers so now leadership either needs to double-down or get with the times. Either way will be messy at this point.
Nice analysis.
It's a different age of humanity. People what strong leaders, but not those who blindly trample on individual freedoms for an organizational goal.
It is that for certain El Guapo. I’m about to state something that isn’t necessarily an argument you made specifically. So don’t take this as a rebuttal.
“Different” does not always equate to better. Do we give up on processes that are meant to better a group on the whole in order to achieve desired success. But in doing so trade that to accommodate some people’s individual feelings of inadequacy?
I’d guess I’d need to know more what you define as “freedom” on this next part.
As a thought.
Uniform is a big word in the NFL. Why is that? For obvious reasons. Can you imagine if no one wanted to wear the teams uniform? Why do we suppress our feeling of not liking that uniform (freedom)? Why can’t we just “express our own personal freedom and wear street clothes? I’m being sarcastic to express a point. The point being.. there’s a fine line between expressing our individual freedom and doing the things that are required for a greater cause or purpose. Football isn’t about individual’s feelings or freedoms., its about confirming to a team standard that propels is to a objective or cause. It’s not about suppressing ones “freedom” as if were some dictatorship. It shouldn’t be anyway and I’ve not seen any examples of that with this FO that are any different than the norm.
You’re either a slave to the ideals and direction of a team mentality.., or you’re a slave to your own individual desires and freedoms.. but trust me you’re definitely a slave of something either way.
The difference here is.. Nobody is trampling on Aaron Rodgers individual freedom. He has the ability to walk right out that door without asking permission. That goes for every last player on the team and it should made abundantly clear that this job/profession is 100% voluntary. Every last player is inadvertently asked to willingly participate when they sign a contract and Every contract provides a separation clause. Just because people don’t read contracts doesn’t negate the effect of said contract. We knowingly lose privileges and freedoms every time we sign a contract.
I’d argue one should have a process and a common goal to be a member of a team and the most important part of that involves suppressing your personal freedoms. It’s not supposed to be easy, it’s hard and that’s what makes it rewarding when you finish as winners as a team. Each person/player suffered to get there, setting down their own personal ideals/desires in order lift those around them. The reward is in the discipline that it takes to be part of a team, not in the trophy per say
The MVP thing means absolutely nothing in the big picture. Imagine if one team had 53 MVP awards and missed the Superbowl (the common goal) What an absolute, catastrophic failure that would be for every last team member
