motife
05-20-2006, 06:29 AM
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/index.php?ntid=84583&ntpid=2
Packers: Weighting on Washington
JASON WILDE
608-252-6176
May 19, 2006
"I'll have to work a littlebit harder. That was my problem (in college). Everybody (said), 'That Donnell, he's not a hard worker. He's not motivated. He's lazy.' I was like, 'If that's people's perception about Donnell Washington, maybe I can change that.' "
- Donnell Washington, after being drafted in the third round by the Green Bay Packers in April 2004.
GREEN BAY - For a while Friday afternoon, Donnell Washington held it all together. Even with the questions coming at him rapid-fire, even with the microphones being pushed in his face, even with the bright TV lights blinding him.
For 5 minutes - which must have felt like forever to him - the Green Bay Packers' 6-foot-6, 338-pound defensive tackle sat in his locker and took it. Reporters asking him point-blank how he could let himself get so fat with so much to prove. Asking how, after two wasted seasons, he could show up for the post-draft minicamp two weeks ago so out of shape that the team wouldn't even let him on the field.
Essentially, how he could be so stupid, eating away any chance at NFL success.
Yet through it all, Washington answered every question with a Yes, sir or Yes, ma'am, never got mad and never raised his voice.
But then, as he rose to leave for a defensive line meeting that was about to start, the big man cracked. At least, that deep voice of his did. Reminded of what he'd said after the Packers took him in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft, his deep baritone took on a much higher pitch, like a child trying to explain to his parents why he'd done something wrong.
"Yeah, I wanted to prove all the critics wrong. But I got off on a bad foot," said Washington, who spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve with a foot injury and didn't play a single down last season. "I got injured my first year, and that was a setback. And then last year, all offseason, I worked my butt off, I lost all this weight, and then that didn't work out.
"But I am going to turn it around. I am going to turn it around."
According to Washington, who entered his rookie season at 318 pounds, the previous coaching staff wanted him to add more weight before last season to go along with his impressive strength (he benches 510 pounds, thought to be the most on the team).
Then, new coach Mike McCarthy and his staff arrived, and Washington said they demanded that he decrease his body fat - the new regime's fitness barometer. His attendance during offseason conditioning sessions had been sporadic - Washington said he was going back and forth to his home in Beaufort, S.C., because of "family issues" - and at 345 pounds and 21 percent body fat when he reported to the post-draft minicamp, he wasn't compliant and wasn't allowed to practice.
But he practiced for the first time Friday, and McCarthy said Washington has "had an excellent two weeks" since the two sat down and talked about Washington's conditioning problems.
"I think he's responded," McCarthy said. "He's starting to make gains."
Maybe Washington will eventually change people's perception of him. Maybe he'll deliver on the potential he flashed enough times at Clemson for ex-coach and GM Mike Sherman to draft him. Maybe he's not a lost cause.
Or maybe he'll be cut in training camp, bounce around for a little while and never be heard from again.
Washington knows it's up to him.
"All I can do is go out there and work. I have to dig my way out of the hole again," Washington said. "It's do or die for me right now."
On the Web
Packers: Weighting on Washington
JASON WILDE
608-252-6176
May 19, 2006
"I'll have to work a littlebit harder. That was my problem (in college). Everybody (said), 'That Donnell, he's not a hard worker. He's not motivated. He's lazy.' I was like, 'If that's people's perception about Donnell Washington, maybe I can change that.' "
- Donnell Washington, after being drafted in the third round by the Green Bay Packers in April 2004.
GREEN BAY - For a while Friday afternoon, Donnell Washington held it all together. Even with the questions coming at him rapid-fire, even with the microphones being pushed in his face, even with the bright TV lights blinding him.
For 5 minutes - which must have felt like forever to him - the Green Bay Packers' 6-foot-6, 338-pound defensive tackle sat in his locker and took it. Reporters asking him point-blank how he could let himself get so fat with so much to prove. Asking how, after two wasted seasons, he could show up for the post-draft minicamp two weeks ago so out of shape that the team wouldn't even let him on the field.
Essentially, how he could be so stupid, eating away any chance at NFL success.
Yet through it all, Washington answered every question with a Yes, sir or Yes, ma'am, never got mad and never raised his voice.
But then, as he rose to leave for a defensive line meeting that was about to start, the big man cracked. At least, that deep voice of his did. Reminded of what he'd said after the Packers took him in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft, his deep baritone took on a much higher pitch, like a child trying to explain to his parents why he'd done something wrong.
"Yeah, I wanted to prove all the critics wrong. But I got off on a bad foot," said Washington, who spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve with a foot injury and didn't play a single down last season. "I got injured my first year, and that was a setback. And then last year, all offseason, I worked my butt off, I lost all this weight, and then that didn't work out.
"But I am going to turn it around. I am going to turn it around."
According to Washington, who entered his rookie season at 318 pounds, the previous coaching staff wanted him to add more weight before last season to go along with his impressive strength (he benches 510 pounds, thought to be the most on the team).
Then, new coach Mike McCarthy and his staff arrived, and Washington said they demanded that he decrease his body fat - the new regime's fitness barometer. His attendance during offseason conditioning sessions had been sporadic - Washington said he was going back and forth to his home in Beaufort, S.C., because of "family issues" - and at 345 pounds and 21 percent body fat when he reported to the post-draft minicamp, he wasn't compliant and wasn't allowed to practice.
But he practiced for the first time Friday, and McCarthy said Washington has "had an excellent two weeks" since the two sat down and talked about Washington's conditioning problems.
"I think he's responded," McCarthy said. "He's starting to make gains."
Maybe Washington will eventually change people's perception of him. Maybe he'll deliver on the potential he flashed enough times at Clemson for ex-coach and GM Mike Sherman to draft him. Maybe he's not a lost cause.
Or maybe he'll be cut in training camp, bounce around for a little while and never be heard from again.
Washington knows it's up to him.
"All I can do is go out there and work. I have to dig my way out of the hole again," Washington said. "It's do or die for me right now."
On the Web