Packers Have A Tough Decsion On Underwood
It's clear that Brandon Underwood is just about the most unpopular guy in the Packers locker room at the moment. Watch for the Packers to make a move to bolster their secondary depth in case they need to sever ties with the second year player.
By PackerAaron
Yes, Brandon Underwood is innocent until proven guilty. Yes, the young player has shown promise and plays a position where the Packers need all the help they can get.
But it's pretty clear that, as of right now, Underwood is not the most popular guy on the team. On the contrary, reading between the lines - it sure sounds like his teammates hate the guy.
One person's misjudgment really put a damper on it. Hopefully this doesn't put a black eye on the tournament and the foundation, but I think for the most part I think it worked out this year, and next year, just be a little more careful. Hopefully we can learn from this and make correct decisions next time.
That, my friends, is the cleaned up, nice, ready-for-the-press version of what Matthews and his teammates are saying about Underwood possibly hiring prostitutes (yes, that's the word on the street) at a charity event. Off the record, the guys whose names were in the paper in relation to this incident are beyond pissed.
And this is a guy who apparently was not well liked BEFORE this all happened.
Now, teams are always going to have fractions and cliques inside them. That's just human nature. And players can play with guys they hate - as long as they shut up and do their job.
I would look for the Packers to make a move sometime in the near future, whether it be a trade or a veteran free agent pickup, to bolster the secondary. The Packers used their draft to gird themselves for whatever is going to happen with Johnny Jolly - they don't have that luxury now.
Of course the Packers could and probably will keep Underwood on the roster - for now. But don't be shocked if he's out the door sometime before or during training camp.
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Comments (43)
June 06, 2010 at 11:56 pm
I've said for a long time that Underwood isn't smart. Just like it is with Bush, you can't teach someone if they're just dumb. Both guys are stupid, and neither has the talent to overcome the idiocy. And yes, I used Underwood's stupidity to bash Bush again. I just hope that Underwood's stupidity doesn't mean that Bush's roster spot is spared.....
June 07, 2010 at 11:35 am
Kudos for smacking Bush while talking about something else! Damn, I have so much to learn...
June 07, 2010 at 12:23 am
It really is unfortunate the Packer's options are so limited at CB. I pray to Superman that Al Harris can somehow be back in the early part of the season. We've been spoiled having him and Charles for the last few years. GB's desperate at CB, so unless there's a decent alternative on the market, I don't see them cutting him unless he is charged.
June 07, 2010 at 12:31 am
Really??? Pros??? C'mon. To quote one Sean 'Puffy' Combs... "True pimp n####z spend no dough on the booty."
I guess we know what we need to know about Brandon Underwood. Next.
June 07, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I believe it was actually Ma$e that uttered that line. Good reference though; very appropriate in this case.
June 07, 2010 at 03:59 pm
that was ma$e? damn. prolly more meaningful then
June 07, 2010 at 12:52 am
What street did you hear the word?
June 07, 2010 at 12:55 am
And I knew as soon as I saw that throwaway quote in the JSO that his teammates hated him. That was my first thought. Think I was first to comment on it here. But when your teammates just outright say he's been trouble at the first public whiff of controversy you know the guy is shady.
June 07, 2010 at 11:52 am
And people say that TT never takes a chance on bad character guys. In the words of Ochocinco "Child please!"
June 07, 2010 at 01:18 am
He's definitely not the first dude to rep the G&G that's stepped out on his wife, so we can't really vilify him for that.
He's obviously not a 'Rocket Surgeon'. However, we don't need him to be.
As long as he gets away from this with no arrest and he LEARNS something from the ordeal... I say, welcome back.
Get your shit together, gain your teammates respect/trust, and play ball. If you're a piece of shit Husband/Father, well, you gotta live with that. I'm not about to start demanding these guys are perfect at home. How the hell do we know what these guys are like off the field? No way for us to know. What did we used to think of Eugene Robinson? NFL Man of the year or some shit... We. Just. Don't. Know. These. Guys.
Don't get arrested, don't piss off/on your team, DON'T DO IT AGAIN!
GBP 4 LIFE
June 07, 2010 at 11:37 am
Gee... shouldn't he have learned when he was kicked out of his college, and fell dramatically during draft day, and lost tons of money???
One would think so...
June 07, 2010 at 11:58 am
"As long as he gets away from this with no arrest and he LEARNS something from the ordeal… I say, welcome back.
Get your shit together, gain your teammates respect/trust, and play ball."
I agree with this statement however how long will this take? I imagine that he can't say he's sorry and change his personality overnight. It's going to take months of soul searching to get back on track with football. Right now the Packers are in a superbowl winning mood and for one guy to be distracted with other things on his mind can change the difference of whether we get to the big game or not. I say we cut him, not that he isn't good or doesn't have potential but that he is wasting a roster spot for another guy that we can bring in. That guy will have a clear mindset to help us win NOW.
June 07, 2010 at 02:09 am
Man, since we've been rebuilding, we've gone into every year paper thin at at least one position. That one year we had no RBs. Fortunately, Grant appeared out of nowhere. The 6-10 year we had no defensive linemen. We were thin, then lost a bunch due to injuries, and KGB's knee never recovered.
Last year, we went into the season paper thin on the offensive line and it almost cost us another season.
Now we're looking pretty thin at CB, and Underwood has to pull something stupid like THIS!?
My impression from his teammates' comments is this is not the first time they've had to put up with BS from Underwood.
He'll get a chance to learn from this. Question is, will he? He'll have to make up for all of it to his teammates. He's got a long way to go to get their respect back.
maxginsberg
June 07, 2010 at 07:00 am
If Underwood gets charged, he's gone. We should find that out today or tomorrow. If he doesn't get charged, TT will take a long, hard look at him when it's time to cut down to the 53 man roster.
Will need trump character? Thompson and McCarthy work extremely hard to create locker room chemistry, and they're not gonna let ANYONE disrupt it. I'm sure TT and MM know who they have in Underwood in terms of a player and a person, and they'll do what's right for the team. It should be interesting to see how this all plays out.
June 07, 2010 at 08:40 am
If that were really true though, Jolly would have been out the door last season. Yet, he's still an active member of the team, and he's arguably been a bigger knucklehead.
A player's ability will always trump their character. McCarthy spoke highly of Underwood's strides, and for that reason, I think he stays.
June 07, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Except for the fact that despite Jolly's legal troubles, he's well liked by his teammates. If you go back in the postgame locker room interviews a lot of guys praise Jolly. Everytime Woodson or some other guy makes a play you see Jolly right there congratulating them. Maybe Jolly isn't such a bad character guy, just happened to do something stupid influenced by his "friends." Underwood on the other hand hasn't been liked by his teammates from the beginning, now that's saying something...
June 07, 2010 at 05:51 pm
Johnny Jolly is not well liked by his team mates- or at least, not all of them.
Last year during the off season, one of the beat writers wrote that a number off players made off-the-record comments that Jolly was an idiot, a thug, and a jerk. One player said he walks around like his stuff don't stink and acts like he's "Big Money" even though he's never got a big contract.
You are putting an awful lot of stock in team mates celebrating on the field together and the one clip of Ryan Picket stating that Jolly is a "Good team mate, a good friend". Honestly, to me, Picket looks like he wasn't comfortable with the questions and was looking for a way to say something positive, nothing more, nothing less.
June 07, 2010 at 07:52 am
I was surprised to read that his teammates were ready to roll on him. If this guy is such a knucklehead that he is a pariah in the locker room, then dumping him might be a simple case of addition by subtraction.
June 07, 2010 at 12:05 pm
It worked for the Cowboys and it certainly can work for us. Whatever helps us win, that's what TT and co. should be looking at.
June 07, 2010 at 08:05 am
classic example of a rookie not being able to handle his prostitutes. Atari Bigby should have stepped in and shown him how to purchase them properly.
Seriously though, that thread does make sense given the facts. The case was nearly closed the night the charges came to light. Not that a man couldn't assault a prostitute/call girl, but their motivation to exploit Underwood's deep pockets (comparatively to them) might have been greater. Not that more facts won't come to light, but if there wasn't any physical evidence of an assault, the fact that this could have been a transaction really puts a damper on their accusation.
June 07, 2010 at 09:05 am
Take a step back, his team mates are quick to throw him under the bus because their names and faces are all over the place connected with this story, not necessarily because Underwood has been a problem before or not well like.
He was invited to stay at the condo, that does not sound like a player whose team mates do not like or have a problem with. Just the opposite, appears that he was well liked and was involved in a social event with his teammates.
If he was a problem before or not well liked he would have not been invited to the event and then the condo.
IMO this may well be a wake up call to an average young man that made a bad mistake with alcohol and women, not the first to do this nor the last.
What Underwood does now will be a testament to his character and we will find out what type of person he really is.
I am sure in the NFL there is a code, you do nothing to get your teams in trouble, cross that line and they will throw you under the bus. I am sure this is made clear to all rookies, Underwood crossed that line.
June 07, 2010 at 12:08 pm
"He was invited to stay at the condo, that does not sound like a player whose team mates do not like or have a problem with. Just the opposite, appears that he was well liked and was involved in a social event with his teammates."
I heard everyone gets invited to these events, just depends on who's available and who's not. And besides, you could speculate that indeed they didn't like the guy from the very beginning but invited him just to get to know him better. Well they certainly know a lot about him now....
June 07, 2010 at 01:06 pm
I agree with what you said, I guess I am questioning how much of a problem he was before the incident.
If he was a clear problem before, I would think there would be ways of getting around to not invite him to such events, or at the least find him lodging of his own.
He crossed the line and the other players are showing little or no sympathy.
His team mates names were in the paper too. Thats what makes this situation different.
Just look at Jolly's case. That case involves no other Packer players. Jolly's team mates are free to comment on Jolly's case as completely casual observers.
Underwood's situation raises eye browns on everyone partying and sharing that Condo that night. Thats why his team mates are not being so nice in their comments.
PackerAaron
June 07, 2010 at 01:26 pm
"I guess I am questioning how much of a problem he was before the incident." - I don't think he was 'trouble' per se, I just don't think he was liked. This was from the report the night he got named as the one police were investigating: "When apprised that the investigation centered on Underwood, 23, several players who wished to remain anonymous said he had been a problem since he was drafted in the sixth round in 2009 out of Cincinnati."
Sure doesn't sound like a love-fest between Underwood and his teammates was going on prior to the events of this past weekend.
June 07, 2010 at 01:37 pm
I see what you are saying, I would love to know if these are the same players that had their names in the papers too in conjustion with Underwood's incident, or other players who were not at the event.
Its interesting that they use the term "problem" than "not liked". It was more than a social thing, but he was doing things that cause problems.
June 07, 2010 at 04:24 pm
What Underwood does now will be a testament to his character and we will find out what type of person he really is.
IMO I have tagged his character and now know what type of person he is. The remaining issue is how this effects the team.
June 07, 2010 at 09:24 pm
Dead right. What he does now will show who he really is.
June 07, 2010 at 09:13 am
My guess is he is done with the Packers
They picked him knowing he was kicked out of OSU, he gets less leeway than another player might. With Jolly, this was his first time getting caught doing anything.
June 07, 2010 at 10:29 pm
probably a nit-pick, but I've seen a few people mention Underwood was "Kicked out" of OSU.
As I understand it, He lost his scholarship money due to academic ineligibility coupled with missed meetings. He was not expelled, and to the best of my knowledge, he was not technically kicked off of the team.
I might not have all of that straight, so if someone has more detail, I'm all ears.
June 07, 2010 at 09:31 am
And the Revis rumors suddenly start up again...
PackerAaron
June 07, 2010 at 09:32 am
Saw that this morning - good grief.
June 07, 2010 at 11:13 am
Here's my theory. If his teammates know he's trouble, obviously MM and TT know it as well. Therefore TT has him high on his list for moving him at the first opportunity. He mentions it to the coach so MM makes his glowing remarks after the early practices so other teams will take notice, inflating Underwood's trade value. They were about to make a move when Underwood thwarts their scheme.
June 07, 2010 at 11:39 am
Get Richard Marshall. Class act, likes to support the run, is young, smart and talented...
June 07, 2010 at 11:50 am
Damn, didn't know Underwood actually had 3 children, one being a 2 week old...
See, Aaron? Now's the time to call someone a turd.
While the wife breastfeeds the young kid, Underwood is breastfed by 2 whores... Now there's a nice, concerned parent...
June 07, 2010 at 11:58 am
His family are the true losers in all this.
The Packers have a tough decision, what about his wife? Forgive and keep the family together or split the family apart?
June 07, 2010 at 12:11 pm
In regards to the Packers, Underwood's case starts to really make you curious about any other bad seeds on this team. For example, wasn't Quarless a bad character in college? How will Underwood's situation affect him?
June 07, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Nice catch.
Depends. If the Packers do nothing, then he'll know he'll get at least one free pass.
But if they fine him/cut him, he'll realize that he can't be doing stupid things...
There's a difference, though. Underwood was so immature he was kicked out of his college. Quarless was given another shot, and reportedly has changed his life (I believe he's been sober for more than a year)...
June 07, 2010 at 01:13 pm
Its not all up to the Packers, take Ben R. for instance. He is being punished and almost got booted off the team, but there were other teams willing to pick him up and pay him.
If the Packers cut Underwood, and another team picks him up, he may lose some money, but he still playing and making really good money for a years work, whats the league minimum?
June 07, 2010 at 09:26 pm
Underwood has just made an example of himself. Quarless probably reads what is being said about Underwood by his teammates.
June 07, 2010 at 02:36 pm
With Goodell's precedence being set with Ben R, you can bet Underwood is suspended regardless of the outcome of legal proceedings. Or maybe Roger grants you one assault.
June 07, 2010 at 09:29 pm
According to a commenter on PFT, LeRoy Butler talked on ESPN Milwuakee today that he believes these were hookers from Milwuakee hired by Underwood, who then ripped him off and then went to the police with their BS story to prevent Underwood from turning them in or coming after them.
Anyone hear that?
June 08, 2010 at 12:23 am
Not saying it isn't true, but how exactly do you go about turning someone in in that situation? Not that I am going to start paying hookers or anything...just asking!
June 14, 2010 at 09:37 am
Superb insight if you haven't read it -
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Trouble-in-Titletown-Part-II-a-look-...
GBP 4 LIFE