Packers spring a surprise, sign former Chargers punter Drew Kaser
- Thread starter Da-news-now
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I guess I don't get all the indignation about this. Scott's wife is expecting any day now. The Packers were prepared to accommodate his desire to be there if his wife goes into labor. They even had a plane standing by just in case. Sounds like they were trying to be player friendly.
With other players you have options. If Martinez needs to be gone for the game, you have other ILBs. Same with Randall Cobb or Brian Bulaga. If Scott leaves on Sunday afternoon to be with his wife, who is going to punt? I'd have been annoyed had they not had a plan and then we have a total "cluster" Sunday night on the punt team. Sounds like Gute and Scott talked through this and Gute had a back-up plan in place just in case. They already had the open roster spot so everything worked out and was thought through. The standby punter is already gone.
The other option would have been to tell Scott that once he got on the plan on Saturday that he was committing to the game and that being there for his kids birth was out of the question. Not a very player friendly stance.
I can be as critical of the front office as the next person, but this actually seems like a well thought out plan to accommodate both the player's and the team's needs. In the end, absolutely no harm done.
With other players you have options. If Martinez needs to be gone for the game, you have other ILBs. Same with Randall Cobb or Brian Bulaga. If Scott leaves on Sunday afternoon to be with his wife, who is going to punt? I'd have been annoyed had they not had a plan and then we have a total "cluster" Sunday night on the punt team. Sounds like Gute and Scott talked through this and Gute had a back-up plan in place just in case. They already had the open roster spot so everything worked out and was thought through. The standby punter is already gone.
The other option would have been to tell Scott that once he got on the plan on Saturday that he was committing to the game and that being there for his kids birth was out of the question. Not a very player friendly stance.
I can be as critical of the front office as the next person, but this actually seems like a well thought out plan to accommodate both the player's and the team's needs. In the end, absolutely no harm done.
I'll tell you why..... How many other players have passed through here and have had babies in season ? Several.. probably hundreds and in the last 40 years I can't remember the Packers ever signing another player so this one could leave if the baby is born! Bigger problem is two fold. What will Vet player B the OL with 3 kids that has played years here who wasn't given the same curiosity think ? Going forward what if QB #12 has a kid ? ..... Aaron won't start the NFC title game while awaiting the birth of his child ?
It's an HR nightmare 57 because you have to treat each employee ( that's what they are) the same. This wasn't thought through very well by Gute and Murphy probably at the bequest of MM and now going forward someone will have to clean up the mess.
OK, I guess if you put it in terms of a HR policy issue then maybe this was foolish.
I seem to recall NFL players missing games in the past for family issues and the teams just simply dealt with it. At most positions you have other choices but when you only have 1 of something it leaves you in a tough spot. Sounds like Scott's wife will be induced this week so there is no issue for next Sunday. Not sure why that was not discussed prior to the New England game, but maybe their physician was reluctant to go a week early.
I think a player like AR would know the difference between him missing a regular season game and and NFC Championship game and would find a way to accommodate the team. Ben Roethlisberger, created a similar issue in 2012 when he said he’d miss a game if he had to be with his wife when she gave birth. Now maybe his stance would have been different for a championship game. This is not all that uncommon in other sports, but those situation are complicated by there being far more games.
Hopefully, as you say, no cleanup will be needed going forward.
I seem to recall NFL players missing games in the past for family issues and the teams just simply dealt with it. At most positions you have other choices but when you only have 1 of something it leaves you in a tough spot. Sounds like Scott's wife will be induced this week so there is no issue for next Sunday. Not sure why that was not discussed prior to the New England game, but maybe their physician was reluctant to go a week early.
I think a player like AR would know the difference between him missing a regular season game and and NFC Championship game and would find a way to accommodate the team. Ben Roethlisberger, created a similar issue in 2012 when he said he’d miss a game if he had to be with his wife when she gave birth. Now maybe his stance would have been different for a championship game. This is not all that uncommon in other sports, but those situation are complicated by there being far more games.
Hopefully, as you say, no cleanup will be needed going forward.