Earlier this month, former Packers and Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren shared with Peter King the thought processes that prompted Holmgren to once stick with a struggling Brett Favre.
But Holmgren, who likewise argued that teams in need of quarterbacks should select them high in the 2014 draft, seems to have real concerns about the incoming rookie quarterback whose playing style most closely resembles Favre’s.
A cover quote for the cover story on Johnny Manziel has Holmgren saying that Manziel is “too playground, too freelancey.”
It’s possible that the full context includes some positive remarks from Holmgren. If so, it’s arguably unfair to Holmgren (and to King, who wrote the story) to highlight the obviously negative portion of the assessment.
(And here’s a prime example of what it truly means to take something out of context. If, for example, Holmgren said, “At times I think he’s too playground, too freelancey, but like Favre, Manziel delivers,” Holmgren’s quotes will have been grossly taken out of context. If the four words appearing on the cover are fully consistent with Holmgren’s message, then it’s a fair quote.)
For now, with only the four words to go on, it’s curious to say the least that Holmgren would knock a guy who possibly could, with the right coaching, thrive like No. 4.
“I went down, thought about it, called [Favre] in the next morning, told him he was the guy,” Holmgren previously said about the time that he decided to stick with Favre over benching him for Mark Brunell. “I told [Favre], ‘We’re either going to the top of the mountain together or we’re going to the dumpster together. But we’re in this together.’ That’s what you have to do. I’m convinced of it. Absolutely convinced.”
Fine. They why give up on Manziel before someone has a chance to make that same commitment to him? It doesn’t make any sense, especially in light of a personal experience that gave Holmgren the only Super Bowl ring he won as a head coach or high-level executive.