Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Overseas game is possible if schedule changes
— Fans looking for clarity on the NFL’s 2021 season got none of that last week Thursday from Commissioner Roger Goodell’s pre-Super Bowl news conference.
Goodell said he has no idea how normal the 2021 season will be, whether the league would implement a 17th regularseason game, as it is allowed to do under its new collective bargaining agreement, or whether it can follow through with its plan to play international games again this year.
That the NFL’s plans are more aspirational than certain is because the COVID-19 pandemic remains the dominant factor in everyone’s plans, but the hope is that vaccinations will be widespread enough by fall to allow some semblance of normal.
“One of the things that I have learned and all of us have learned is not to project too much in advance,” Goodell said. “I don’t know when normal will occur again. I know this, we’ve learned to operate in a difficult environment and we’ll do it again.”
In 2020, the NFL proved it could conduct a complete season even in the midst of a pandemic, but that included canceling its games in London and Mexico City, making the draft and off-season programs virtual and playing much of the year under strict health protocols and with limited fan attendance.
Talking to the media before Sunday’s Super Bowl LV matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs, Goodell said the 17-game season remains uncertain, but the international games are a go. Maybe.
“We are planning for international games in ’21,” Goodell said. “That’s the approach we’re going to take. We obviously are going to stay in close contact with our partners in the U.K. and in Mexico and make sure that we are doing that safely.
“If at any point in time we don’t think we can execute on it safely, we will make that determination.”
The Packers remain the only NFL team that has not played a regular-season
international game. One reason for that is teams that are scheduled to host the Packers and play overseas in the same year are reluctant to give up home games against Green Bay because its fans are among the best at filling stadiums.
And the Packers have said they will not give up games at Lambeau Field because of a disproportionate economic impact on the league’s smallest market.
Which brings us back to a possible 17game schedule. The extra game could increase the Packers’ chances of finally needing their passports. Eventually.
Whether the Packers play an international game still depends on if any of their opponents are hosting one of those games and if they would be willing to give up a home game against Green Bay.
Regular-season games are generally more valuable in terms of revenue than preseason games, so possibly one of those Packers opponents with nine home games would be more willing to meet them in London or Mexico City.
Teams that will host international games have not been announced, although the Jacksonville Jaguars almost certainly will be one of them. The Jaguars were scheduled to host back-toback
games in London in 2020.
Packers road opponents in 2021 include the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears from the NFC North, and the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers.
Teams playing internationally probably won’t be announced until May, when the rest of the NFL schedule is released.
NFL owners decided the 17th game matchups would be division vs. division against teams from the other conference, based on standings. The conferences would alternate years, with the NFC hosting the extra games during the 2021 season. Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy has said the Packers would host the Kansas City Chiefs this season.
Alternating years means the NFC teams will have nine regular-season home games and one preseason home game this year. During the 2022 season, they’ll have eight regular season home games and two preseason home games.
A 17-game season also would affect Packers season-ticket holders. Murphy said they will alternate the extra regularseason home game between the Green and Gold packages.
It would work like this:
In one season, the Green package would include seven regular-season games and the Gold package two regular-season games and one preseason game.
The next year, when the AFC hosts the extra games, Green would get six regular-season games and one preseason game, and Gold would get two and one.
The following year, Green would get six regular-season games and one preseason game, and Gold would get three regular-season games.The Packers have not said whether they would start with Green or Gold getting the extra regularseason game.
Also Thursday, Goodell said it was too soon to say whether players or fans will be required to be vaccinated this season.
Packers Hall induction postponed
Charles Woodson must wait a bit longer to join the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
Packers Hall of Fame Inc. said last week it will postpone the induction banquet, which already was delayed once, from April to August. The specific date will be announced later.
Woodson and Al Harris were elected to the hall in 2020, but that banquet was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the same reason it was postponed again. It is hoped that enough of the public will be vaccinated by August to allow large public gatherings.
Individuals who purchased tickets for the banquet were notified of the change of date.
Woodson became a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame player when he was selected Saturday.
Woodson and Harris will be the 163rd and 164th inductees into the Packers’ hall. The two defensive backs played together in Green Bay for four years, from 2006-2009, coming to the Packers by different circumstances, but both finding a home.
Harris was traded to the Packers by the Andy Reid-led Philadelphia Eagles in 2003 and Woodson signed as a free
agent in 2006.
Harris played seven of his 14 seasons in Green Bay, from 2003-09. Fourteen of his career 21 interceptions were with the Packers, for whom he started 83 consecutive games. The other seven were with the Philadelphia Eagles, who acquired him the year after he was picked in the sixth round of the 1997 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played one season in Miami and one in St. Louis after his time in Green Bay.
Harris set a Packers’ single-season record for passes defensed with 28 in 2004, and recorded 108 during this time in Green Bay.
Woodson sandwiched seven years in Green Bay between stints in Oakland. He was a key member of the Packers’ 2011 Super Bowl XLV championship team.
Woodson, a Heisman Trophy winner as a junior at the University of Michigan, was the fourth overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft and played eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders before moving to Green Bay in 2006. Thirty-eight of his career 65 interceptions and 115 passes defensed were with the Packers. He scored 13 touchdowns, including 10 in Green Bay. He rejoined Oakland for three more seasons to finish his career.
Other awards to be recognized at the banquet include:
The Bob Harlan Leadership Award to Bud Selig, former Major League Baseball commissioner, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and Packers board member.
The Bart and Cherry Starr Recognition Award to Zeke Bratkowski, a former Packers quarterback who died in 2019.
The Media Award to Bud Lea, former Milwaukee Sentinel Packers beat reporter who died on Jan. 20. He is the first recipient of the award, which will be named for him.
The Most Memorable Moment in Packers History award, a special recognition of the creation of the Lambeau Leap by former Packers defensive back LeRoy Butler. Butler and former Packers receiver Robert Brooks will accept the award.
Drayton’s hiring announced
The Packers announced Maurice Drayton as the new special teams coordinator Monday. Drayton was promoted from assistant special teams coach to coordinator, replacing Shawn Mennenga, who led disappointing units each of the last two seasons. Drayton has five years of experience as an assistant at the NFL level, including three in Green Bay and two in Indianapolis.