GREEN BAY -- The more time I spend around Charles Woodson, the more I wonder how he'll fit in around here.
Not only do I wonder about him on the field -- he's a Heisman Trophy winner and four-time Pro Bowler, but he's coming off a broken leg and I'm not sure how much he has left -- but whether Packers fans will like him. I suppose if he plays well, they'll love him regardless, but the guy doesn't strike me as what coach Mike McCarthy calls "Packer People."
He strikes me more as a mercenary who signed with the highest bidder. He's in Green Bay not because he wants to be, but because he's got $10 million worth of reasons to be.
For instance, on Thursday, I was asking around to do a run-of-the-mill advance of Saturday night's intrasquad scrimmage for the Wisconsin State Journal. For a lot of rookies and new guys, the fact that 60,000-plus people are going to show up for a glorified practice is a big deal.
Granted, Woodson isn't a rookie. He's in his ninth NFL season. But you'd have thought he might want to make a good first impression on his new fans.
So, Charles, you looking forward to the scrimmage?
"No," he replied. "Not at all."
Oh. Uh, why?
"I look at it as a business," he said. "I worked for one company, now I work for another company. And I'm just going to work every day. That's what they expect me to do. That's what I came here to do. I came here to help this team win ballgames. We're both coming from situations where we didn't win a lot of games."
To be fair, a lot of times players say what they think you want them to say. Woodson deserves points for being honest. Then again, given his reputation for publicly airing his grievances in Oakland -- remember his famous blow-up with coach Bill Callahan? -- I would have liked him to be more honest about another topic: Not playing on offense.
While McCarthy said part of the reason Woodson isn't getting to work at receiver was that Woodson's "plate was full" playing corner, nickelback and punt returner, the coach acknowledged that had Woodson not skipped the second minicamp and 14 organized team activity practices, he might have gotten his wish to line up on the offensive side.
"That's a factor," McCarthy said.
Woodson wouldn't discuss the issue Thursday, responding with the same five words -- "No comment on the offense" -- three times when it was brought up.
Just one more thing to wonder about with him.
Jason Wilde covers the Packers for the Wisconsin State Journal. You can read his stories at the newspaper Web site -- www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports. Wilde also talks about the Packers each morning on "The D-List" and each afternoon on "The World's Greatest Sports Talk Show," on Milwaukee's ESPN Radio 1510 Days / 1290 Nights and Madison's Fox Sports Radio (100.5 FM).
Not only do I wonder about him on the field -- he's a Heisman Trophy winner and four-time Pro Bowler, but he's coming off a broken leg and I'm not sure how much he has left -- but whether Packers fans will like him. I suppose if he plays well, they'll love him regardless, but the guy doesn't strike me as what coach Mike McCarthy calls "Packer People."
He strikes me more as a mercenary who signed with the highest bidder. He's in Green Bay not because he wants to be, but because he's got $10 million worth of reasons to be.
For instance, on Thursday, I was asking around to do a run-of-the-mill advance of Saturday night's intrasquad scrimmage for the Wisconsin State Journal. For a lot of rookies and new guys, the fact that 60,000-plus people are going to show up for a glorified practice is a big deal.
Granted, Woodson isn't a rookie. He's in his ninth NFL season. But you'd have thought he might want to make a good first impression on his new fans.
So, Charles, you looking forward to the scrimmage?
"No," he replied. "Not at all."
Oh. Uh, why?
"I look at it as a business," he said. "I worked for one company, now I work for another company. And I'm just going to work every day. That's what they expect me to do. That's what I came here to do. I came here to help this team win ballgames. We're both coming from situations where we didn't win a lot of games."
To be fair, a lot of times players say what they think you want them to say. Woodson deserves points for being honest. Then again, given his reputation for publicly airing his grievances in Oakland -- remember his famous blow-up with coach Bill Callahan? -- I would have liked him to be more honest about another topic: Not playing on offense.
While McCarthy said part of the reason Woodson isn't getting to work at receiver was that Woodson's "plate was full" playing corner, nickelback and punt returner, the coach acknowledged that had Woodson not skipped the second minicamp and 14 organized team activity practices, he might have gotten his wish to line up on the offensive side.
"That's a factor," McCarthy said.
Woodson wouldn't discuss the issue Thursday, responding with the same five words -- "No comment on the offense" -- three times when it was brought up.
Just one more thing to wonder about with him.
Jason Wilde covers the Packers for the Wisconsin State Journal. You can read his stories at the newspaper Web site -- www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports. Wilde also talks about the Packers each morning on "The D-List" and each afternoon on "The World's Greatest Sports Talk Show," on Milwaukee's ESPN Radio 1510 Days / 1290 Nights and Madison's Fox Sports Radio (100.5 FM).
Jason Wilde, a Milwaukee native who graduated from Greendale Martin Luther High School and the University of Wisconsin, is a two-time Associated Press Sports Editors award winner and a Wisconsin Newspaper Association award winner.
His daily coverage can be found on the State Journal's Web site and through his Packers blog on madison.com.
