Former Packers coach Mike McCarthy denied he skipped team meetings for a massage.
During a phone interview with Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, McCarthy responded to a Bleacher Report story written by former Packers beat writer Tyler Dunne.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start and stop with the article,” McCarthy told Pelissero. “But to say that I skipped a team meeting for a massage is utterly absurd. I have a massage scheduled tomorrow, and I can promise you I will not miss my primary responsibility of picking up my two kids from school.”
Dunn wrote of McCarthy’s massage habit, “About once a week, a meeting would start up and McCarthy was MIA. Players weren’t quite sure where he was while, for example, an assistant coach would run the team’s final prep on the Saturday before a game. Eventually, word leaked that McCarthy, the one calling plays on game day, was up in his office getting a massage during those meetings.”
McCarthy told Pelissero he began having massages to help with a back issue several years ago. He even recommended massages to his players.
But McCarthy said he never missed work for a massage, adding that he’s “moved on from Green Bay.”
Based on news from the past two days, that appears long overdue for both sides.