The Packers 'Blow it' - 'The NFL's Incredible Bust' Tony Mandarich NO. 2 Pick 1989 NFL Draft? Why !?

[woodbuck27]

There have been a helluva a lot of other players over the decades with "maturity and basic personality" issues who did just fine in the NFL. I don't think anybody ever accused Mandarich of that kind of badness - abusing alcohol or recreational drugs.

What it comes down to is: he was so damn good because of performance enhancing drugs; Just about the time he was drafted, the shit hit the fan about PEDs, and he had to get by without them. THAT was what caused his play to turn to shit.

Should the Packers have known about that trend of PEDs being on the way out? Apparently nobody else did, because Mandarich was almost universally regarded as a great pick. If the PED thing had waited 10 or 12 years, he might have had a hall of fame career - and maybe been the next Lyle Alzado, health-wise. So bad timing and bad luck - that's my verdict.

Here is the core reason (s) and why he failed as a Green Bay Packer Top Draft Pick and a lot of that is certainly personality and (medically) mentally related:

http://archive.jsonline.com/sports/p...00153021.html/

PACKERS|OLD SCHOOL PACKERS

Feb. 28, 1993: Tony Mandarich’s decline is rooted within him

By: Bob McGinn, Milwaukee Journal ... Feb. 28,1993

"...whatever advancements Mandarich had made began to dissipate in the ’92 off-season. His travels and big-game hunting expeditions left less time for the weight room in Green Bay and reduced his aerobic activity. Then, on an Alaskan vacation in June, he supposedly drank tainted water and was in even worst condition for the start of training camp.

Over the next six traumatic months, he would suffer a severe concussion, learn he had a thyroid condition, make his final public media appearance in September trying to answer a damaging Sports Illustrated story, bow out near midseason as host of his own TV show, visit doctors across the country and be diagnosed as having post-concussion syndrome, list his home for sale outside Pulaski, Wis., defy coach Mike Holmgren’s request that he trains in Green Bay, and grieve for his older brother, John, who died of cancer Feb. 8.

When Mandarich attended the wedding of teammate Shawn Patterson in Green Bay last Saturday, two people who were there said they detected tears in Mandarich’s eyes on two separate occasions.

“Obviously, the combination of a concussion and everything else brought on some depression,” said Domenic Gentile, who retired Feb. 1 after 32 years as Packers’ trainer. ..."