The Packers surely wish this whole team photo mini-controversy would just go away, but linebacker Nick Barnett isn’t making it easy. We don’t blame him.
In heartfelt comments to Yahoo’s Michael Silver, Barnett explains why being in the photo means so much to him. He still hopes the team reconsiders their stance.
“In our team meeting room, there are pictures of past championship teams that line the wall, and we stare at them every day,” Barnett said. “There’s a spot there that’s empty -- that was for us, this year. We’d go in there and visualize being on that wall, and think about the effort it would take to get there.
“You’d see guys like Ray Nitschke up there, and that’s motivation. So, now that we’ve gotten to the Super Bowl, to not be on that wall . . . well, it’s disheartening.”
Silver raises an interesting theory that the team may not want to bring all the injured players to Dallas until Thursday because they don’t want them staying out past curfew. (And keeping healthy players out past curfew.) Whatever the reason, the whole issue shows how weird life can be for a player on injured reserve.
“You do feel disconnected,” Barnett said. “I feel like, sometimes, being on I.R., you get forgotten about.”
In the end, Barnett says he’ll accept any decision if the team thinks it’s going to help them win.
“I’d rather have a ring than a picture any day – no question,” Barnett said.