During the offseason, a game day employee at Lincoln Financial Field lost his job after badmouthing the Eagles on his Facebook page. Despite the fact that Dan Leone had no defense to the reality that he foolishly posted for the world to see a message including the “F” word and calling the team “retarted” for allowing safety Brian Dawkins to sign with a new team, the move created a flood of local sympathy for the fired employee.
More recently, the Packers abruptly fired a 22-year member of the Lambeau Field maintenance crew, but not for using bad language or calling anyone “retarted” or saying anything in any forum that anyone other than coach Mike McCarthy would hear.
According to Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wood saw McCarthy at Lambeau Field on the Thursday before the pressure-packed visit from Brett Favre and the Vikings, on November 1.
Wood says that he yelled to McCarthy, “Hey coach, let’s get the boys ready to kick some butt this weekend.”
The next day, Wood showed up for work. Nothing was said to him.
On the day of the game, Wood learned that he had been fired. He was told that McCarthy heard him say, “Don’t lay an egg.”
Um, where do we start?
First, if McCarthy was sufficiently worried in the three days before the biggest game at Lambeau Field since the Ice Bowl about some guy telling him not to “lay an egg” that it caused McCarthy to find out who said it and to have the guy fired, then maybe McCarthy wasn’t as focused on getting himself and the team ready for the game as he should have been.
Second, the fact that McCarthy would have Wood fired shows that the coach’s thick flesh is covered by ridiculously thin skin.
Third, at a time when the locals already are clamoring for Jon Gruden or Mike Holmgren or Mike Shanahan or any Mike not named McCarthy to be coaching the team in 2010, this is the kind of thing that can strike a chord with the people who made the Packers what they are.
McCarthy isn’t one of them. He’s a Pittsburgh guy. A transplant. A carpetbagger. Sure, he spent one season a decade ago in Green Bay as an assistant coach, but he’s not a native son.
And here’s the most obvious question the native sons and daughters will be asking: Why not meet with the guy and hear his side of the story? Maybe Wood is telling the truth. Maybe McCarthy, his blood pressure likely sky high as his plan to nudge Favre into retirement was about to explode once and for all, didn’t accurately hear what Wood said.
Really, why would a 22-year employee be stupid enough to disrespect the head coach of the team to his face? Plenty of folks write stupid things on web sites and blogs. But most of us adopt some semblance of common sense and civility when dealing with other people directly.
So look for the storm clouds to continue to gather around McCarthy.
And look for him to hear things on Sunday at Lambeau Field far more profane and pointed than “don’t lay an egg.”