BF4MVP
10-28-2006, 11:17 AM
Mike Woods column: Excuses won't fly with no-nonsense coach
By Mike Woods
Grab your milk and cookies, kids, and listen to this tale of two Packers.
Meet Robert Ferguson.
He's a guy who is failing. He's a guy who allows his agent to do his bidding for him. He's a guy, through his agent, who has no trouble locating excuses for his shortcomings.
Now meet Mike McCarthy.
He's a guy who, at least to a certain degree, is succeeding. He's a guy who does his own bidding. He's a guy who doesn't look for excuses when things go south but instead seeks  and expects  solutions to problems.
If attitude is half the battle, then you can understand why Ferguson is on his way out of Green Bay and McCarthy  though it's too early to make any significant judgments  is making strides.
Ferguson never lived up to expectations after the Packers made him their second-round draft pick in 2001 and after former Packers General Manager Mike Sherman stunningly gave him a $3.5 million bonus as part of a contract extension before the 2004 season.
In his six seasons in Green Bay, Ferguson has been oft-injured. Only once has he played in 16 regular-season games. He has missed 11 of the past 54 games because of injuries, the latest of which, a foot injury, landed him on injured reserve for the rest of this season.
The fallout has Ferguson's agent, Brian Overstreet, saying his client gets "worn down playing special teams.''
Go ahead, kids, insert your own joke here.
Funny how playing special teams never has affected William Henderson  the former longtime starter at fullback  who has been in the league 12 years, twice as long as Ferguson, and who before this season when his role was diminished, played in 190 of the Packers' last 192 games.
If Ferguson believes playing special teams has worn him down, then he's not in good enough shape and has only himself to blame.
He has been given numerous chances to grab a starting job  an elevation in status that would have relieved him of special teams assignment  but has not been good enough. This year, he couldn't beat out rookie Greg Jennings.
To blame it on quarterback Brett Favre or some conspiracy theory  as Overstreet floated  is garbage.
The reason Ferguson has not succeeded is due in part to bad luck, but mainly because the guy staring back in the mirror has yet to learn to not only accept responsibility, but overcome adversity.
Now take McCarthy, who woke up last Sunday morning to discover his left starting tackle would not be able to play.
He had to reshuffle his line, which meant three rookies would be starting, but by all indications, took it in stride.
Then his depleted receiving corps lost a starter, Jennings, near the end of the half and was forced to turn to a guy in Chris Francies who never had caught an NFL pass. He adjusted and moved on.
As for the oppressive heat and humidity in Miami, he refused to make an issue of it.
He was the same after the Miami win  when you would have understood if he was a little giddy  as he was after the opening-loss to the Bears, when you might have expected him to appear a little shell-shocked.
If we've learned anything about McCarthy, it's that he's an even-keeled coach who is more about finding solutions to problems than making excuses for them.
Granted, that's his job. But what he's also doing is sending a message to his team; that for every problem there's a solution, and excuses will not be tolerated.
It is clear Robert Ferguson never got that message, and that's why his is a sad tale.
As for Mr. McCarthy, his is a tale that holds promise.
By Mike Woods
Grab your milk and cookies, kids, and listen to this tale of two Packers.
Meet Robert Ferguson.
He's a guy who is failing. He's a guy who allows his agent to do his bidding for him. He's a guy, through his agent, who has no trouble locating excuses for his shortcomings.
Now meet Mike McCarthy.
He's a guy who, at least to a certain degree, is succeeding. He's a guy who does his own bidding. He's a guy who doesn't look for excuses when things go south but instead seeks  and expects  solutions to problems.
If attitude is half the battle, then you can understand why Ferguson is on his way out of Green Bay and McCarthy  though it's too early to make any significant judgments  is making strides.
Ferguson never lived up to expectations after the Packers made him their second-round draft pick in 2001 and after former Packers General Manager Mike Sherman stunningly gave him a $3.5 million bonus as part of a contract extension before the 2004 season.
In his six seasons in Green Bay, Ferguson has been oft-injured. Only once has he played in 16 regular-season games. He has missed 11 of the past 54 games because of injuries, the latest of which, a foot injury, landed him on injured reserve for the rest of this season.
The fallout has Ferguson's agent, Brian Overstreet, saying his client gets "worn down playing special teams.''
Go ahead, kids, insert your own joke here.
Funny how playing special teams never has affected William Henderson  the former longtime starter at fullback  who has been in the league 12 years, twice as long as Ferguson, and who before this season when his role was diminished, played in 190 of the Packers' last 192 games.
If Ferguson believes playing special teams has worn him down, then he's not in good enough shape and has only himself to blame.
He has been given numerous chances to grab a starting job  an elevation in status that would have relieved him of special teams assignment  but has not been good enough. This year, he couldn't beat out rookie Greg Jennings.
To blame it on quarterback Brett Favre or some conspiracy theory  as Overstreet floated  is garbage.
The reason Ferguson has not succeeded is due in part to bad luck, but mainly because the guy staring back in the mirror has yet to learn to not only accept responsibility, but overcome adversity.
Now take McCarthy, who woke up last Sunday morning to discover his left starting tackle would not be able to play.
He had to reshuffle his line, which meant three rookies would be starting, but by all indications, took it in stride.
Then his depleted receiving corps lost a starter, Jennings, near the end of the half and was forced to turn to a guy in Chris Francies who never had caught an NFL pass. He adjusted and moved on.
As for the oppressive heat and humidity in Miami, he refused to make an issue of it.
He was the same after the Miami win  when you would have understood if he was a little giddy  as he was after the opening-loss to the Bears, when you might have expected him to appear a little shell-shocked.
If we've learned anything about McCarthy, it's that he's an even-keeled coach who is more about finding solutions to problems than making excuses for them.
Granted, that's his job. But what he's also doing is sending a message to his team; that for every problem there's a solution, and excuses will not be tolerated.
It is clear Robert Ferguson never got that message, and that's why his is a sad tale.
As for Mr. McCarthy, his is a tale that holds promise.