Andrew Quarless thought this offseason was tough. Then came what he called “the saddest day of my life.”
Earlier today, the Packers tight end told reporters the reason he missed the start of training camp was because his baby daughter died during birth.
“I thank this team for the type of support they have given me to help me get through this,” he said, via Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “Just very thankful for these guys. It’s really a family in here. It’s really a family. I’m looking forward my first day getting back out there today. It felt real good. It felt real good just to get out there, catch some passes, be able to run around a little bit, kind of get back to your old self and get back into things.”
Normal has been hard to come by for him this offseason, after he was arrested in Miami for firing a gun during an incident at a parking garage. He said he talked to coach Mike McCarthy after that, and apologized for “bringing negativity to this place.”
That’s why he was hoping for another child to help bring some balance, and why it was important to him to have his 5-year-old son by his side today, saying “he was really looking forward to being a big brother.”
“It’s been a lot. It’s been a lot,” Quarless said. “As you grow older as a man, you really understand life and you really understand things. I’m so appreciative of this team. Even from the incident earlier in the month, there’s just been so much support. More than I feel like sometimes I might deserve. Just the amount of love from everybody, it’s really been good for me. It’s hard to explain how much that means to me. I’m just thankful. . . .
“Today was rough. I’m a little drained. I was drained the past couple of days. Just to get out there today, it was a great feeling. It was a great feeling being around my teammates having fun and actually smile. Actually to smile and be happy, that was good for me.”
That training camp can do that for a man who has been through that kind of trauma is amazing, as the team has become a place of refuge for Quarless at a time of such tragedy.