May 20, 2025 • 26 mins
Mike and Wes discuss Wes’s extensive profile on draft pick Barryn Sorrell (:22), first-rounder Matthew Golden signing his contract (9:49), and various comments of interest made in their media sessions by the Packers’ offensive assistant coaches (14:53).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by my trust
in colleague West Hodkowitz. We're coming to you hear from
our studios at lambeau Field, Wes with a little bit
more to talk about regarding Green Bay's draft class, and
specifically one draft pick whom whose story you dove into
(00:35):
a little bit deeper. He was a great story that
we already talked about, the fourth round pick, Baron Surrell,
defensive lineman out of Texas. But you talk to some
other folks behind the scenes part of his background. There's
a really well written profile piece that is now posted
on packers dot com. Congratulations on all the hard work
(00:56):
you put into it. But tell us about some of
these folks you talk to and what you learned about
a young man whom Packers fans are already kind of
starting to fall in love with a little bit.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
No, thank you, Michael, that's very kind of you to say,
And obviously a lot of the credit goes to Baron.
His mom, Selena Gibbons, was very accommodating with the amount
of time she gave me. Obviously, the number of photos
she had. I think in all my years doing this,
I don't know if I've had more options as far
as illustrating a story with outside photos than what Selena
gave me. And then talking to Mike Brandle's econ professor
(01:31):
at Texas. It just gives you a really strong idea
of who this guy is. Because I think my number
one thought when we came out of draft weekend is
who is this human being that decided to come up
to Green Bay, Wisconsin and spend the week here when
he was probably going to be a day two, day
three selection and then suddenly gets selected by the team
(01:51):
that the draft is being held at. And when you
start to understand the way that Baron is wired and
where he comes from down in Louisiana, New Orleans, and
why he's always been so motivated. Again, this is a
kid that was asking for speed ladders for Christmas. He
was asking for concussion helmets with the latest technology to
protect himself. He was a dude who, no matter what
(02:14):
it took in the classroom, he wanted to make sure
that he was going to be able to tie the
academics to the athletics with it. And at the end
of the day. I mean, what an incredible life he's
already led in twenty two years. I mean, he had
offers to Northwestern to duke, he ends up settling on Texas.
He always wanted to play in the SEC. His senior
year of college, he's able to play in the SEC,
(02:35):
makes it to the College Football Playoff back to back years.
But more than anything, understanding his wiring and what motivates
him and Selena had a tremendous anecdote about when he
was little, saying to his mom, you know, I want
to make you a millionaire someday. And this guy is
willing to do whatever it takes to excel in his
(02:56):
chosen profession, and it just so happens to be that
he's a football player. So I also want to give
a quick shout out to Mike Brandle, who was the
professor that very generously went on Twitter after the draft
and really expounded on how special this guy is. Three
and a half years he graduates from Texas, He's in
an introduction to macroeconomics class spring of twenty twenty two,
(03:18):
doesn't do well on the first exam. His brother, Avery's
the one that's kind of telling him, hey, maybe check
in with the professor. Brandle Off opens up his office
to him. They end up having weekly meetings and next
thing you know, a few years later, Brandal, who was
born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, UW grad got his master's from Milwaukee,
goes down to Texas and he's sitting there scrolling through
(03:38):
the internet and he finds out that Baron Serrell not
only got drafted, not only showed up in Green Bay,
but then also got taken and selected by Brandell's childhood team.
It's those type of things that sort of show you
how small the world can be sometimes and also just
the power of motivation. And I think there's so many
of us that at nineteen twenty years old, we didn't
(03:58):
have it all figured out. And this is a kid
in Baron Cerell, who since basically he could play football,
since he could play sports, he's had a very clear
vision of what he wants to accomplish.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I was really drawn into a lot of the academic
details that you had in the story. First the piece
about his folks ponying up the money to put him
into a private school for high school. But with the
caveat that, you know, mom and dad aren't paying for c's.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
This is it.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
You got to get your a's and b's here, if
we're going to do this, if we're going to make
the sacrifice and put you on this path. And then
you follow that up with Professor Brandle, the econ professor
at the University of Texas, where Sorell doesn't do well
in the first exam, as you said, so he's looking
for some extra help. And then he's starting to have
(04:50):
these weekly zoom meetings with his professor to get you know,
to get better explanation, to try to get the material
down better so he can succeed in the class. And
it's a handful of sessions into this thing before Professor
Brandle even knows this is a football player on the
other side of the screen, because you think normally in
(05:11):
those situations, a student athlete is going to go to
the professor and say, hey, let you know, it's like
I've got my sports practice and my schedule is super
busy and I'm not doing well in this class and
I need you to, you know, do you have some
time to help me. However that might go, cREL just
went to him as any other student who needs help.
This wasn't about him being a football player. This wasn't
(05:32):
about seeking any special treatment because he was on scholarship
for with the Texas Longhorns, and he got the grades
turned around and he was successful in the class with
the extra help from the professor. So it's things like
that when you find out those when you find out
those other pieces to a player's background that aren't necessarily
(05:52):
about sports. They're about the other things that they need
to dedicate their lives to in order to create that
successful path into sports. Those are the types of background stories,
the background details that draw me in and quite frankly,
I can't wait to get to know Baron Currell even
(06:12):
better here as he begins his NFL career with the Packers.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah. I appreciate that, mikel I will say too. I
said this to him on the phone. I will extend
the invitation to him. Now, Mike Brandle, next time you
come up to Green Bay, I mean, thenner on me
come over to lambeau Field anytime you want. Like, I
really enjoyed my conversation with this guy because he's an
incredibly intelligent academic, I mean, a PhD in his field,
(06:36):
worked at the University of Texas, Austin went to Ohio State.
I mean, he's done a lot in his profession and
still has that Midwestern nice sort of like sure reality,
just like you could sit down and have a an
Arnold Palmer with him. But one thing I really enjoyed
about his story he talked about how he's kind of
an old school minded professor. Nice guy. You look at
his rate for my professor page, which I did when
(06:57):
I was doing my research. People talked about just how
one of the best professors they've ever had. But he's
tough minded, like he's not just going to hand out
a's and bes. He even said like he would love it.
And it's not about athletes, it's just about any student
in general, the people that don't attend class, that don't
do well in the class, and at the end of
the semester, like what can I do to get a
BEE or what can I do to get an A?
And he's like, the level of this is you know,
(07:19):
d's end at sixty, you're in the forties. There's not
a whole lot I can do to get you up
into the BES. And then here's a guy in Sorel
who's literally his first exam of the course where he
takes the time and says, hey, this isn't clicking for me.
You got to understand Baron had a four point six
GPA in high school. And if you heard what I
said earlier in the show, I mean he was getting
(07:40):
recruited by major Division one colleges with huge academic you
know backgrounds there, including the University of Northwestern University, which
may or may not be in you know, a school
that Mike Spofford went to be that as it may,
it shows you the determination this young guy has. And
if I may, I just want to throw this out
there as well. Looking at the draft day experience, there
(08:02):
were two elements of this that I really enjoyed learning
more about. Kudos to the Commissioner, Roger Goodell. The NFL
could not have been more welcoming to Sorell. Once Chris Cabot,
his agent, had said, you know, my client would really
like to attend the draft. This has been a lifelong
dream of his. The NFL made it happen. They made
him feel like any other top prospect. Roger Goodell's commitments
(08:23):
After that first day, it goes a lot of different directions.
There's relations enjoy he doesn't go up there. This isn't
COVID anymore. He's not reading every single draft pick. But
he made it a point at the end of day
two to go back into the green room when Baron Serell,
a wonderful three piece suit he had on, is sitting
there with his family. Waited hours with his family to
see will I get drafted? Will I get drafted? The
(08:44):
call never comes. Goodell goes back there and tells him,
if you want to stay, I will be there for you.
I will announce you on Saturday. Because Sorel and his
family weren't sure. They were like, should we stay, can
we stay? Do we need to leave? And they could
not have been more welcome in that regard. And then
once it does happen, he has this Cinderella fairy tale
type story that happens where he gets picked by the packers,
(09:07):
he gets embraced by the fans, he does a Lambeau
leap Mark Murphy is pushing the button down at the
tunnel to bring him down.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Onto the field.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I mean, like just so much excitement that was going
that was happening there, and Selena says to him, like,
you know, make sure you stop and smell the Roses
and as much as he appreciated all of that, baron
telling her mom, I have it's time to work. Yeah,
(09:34):
this young man gets it. It wasn't just about the
NFL Draft. It's not about making his mom a millionaire.
It's about fulfilling his potential. Now he's with the Green
Bay Packers, he has an excellent opportunity to contribute to
this Jeff Athley defense and he wants to make sure
he does it.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Absolutely, and his story will be followed closely every step
of the way. Another piece of news with regarding the
draft class also University of Texas. The first round pick
Matthew Golden has signed his contract with the Packers. That is,
that is signed, sealed, delivered, official. We are long past,
(10:08):
you know, the era of extended draft pick holdouts and
things like that the way things go. But the Packers
at this point now just have one more draft pick
who has yet to sign. That his second round pick,
Anthony Belton. Some interesting things going on with second round
picks where there are a couple guys in that round
who have already signed, who got one hundred percent guaranteed contracts,
(10:30):
Which is kind of a new thing because because the
one hundred percent guaranteed contracts were pretty much just for
the first rounders. The way things have been going the
last couple of years, it's yeah, it's it's something that
has been progressing. It's progressed through the first rounders, and
now the one hundred percent guarantee is is creeping into
(10:52):
the second round draft picks. So I think that's holding
up some of the negotiations, you know, because really the
vast majority of the draft pick across the league who
have yet to sign our second round picks, that's what
everybody is waiting on. But congratulations to Matthew Golden. He
got his deal. And this is a young man who
obviously talked about his desire to buy back the family home,
(11:18):
his grandmother's house, and now that he's gonna have some
money in the bank, he'll probably start the process at
whatever it takes to get that property back in his family.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
It's one of the coolest things that happened a lot
of times in the NFL draft. Super sad like you
hate that, you know, for families, a lot of times
this happens, but also it's emotional. I remember I think
Eric Stokes when he got drafted in twenty one. I
want to say it was Eddie bought a house for
his grandmother. Yeah, I know Eddie Lacey did it. Yeah,
in twenty thirteen he bought a house for his mom
and down in Louisiana. I believe it was. You could
(11:53):
tell listening to Golden talk about this and what it
means to him and growing up in that household and
at times heaven to live in hotels with his mom
having to you know, live in the back, you know,
in the car of a Walmart parking lot in the
area because they didn't have some place to go. And
then he's living with different people as you know, his
mom's trying to get back up on her feet. Life
can be really hard on people. But you know, as
(12:15):
as Matt Lafleur and Brian Goodcuns Bull talked about, you
do not want that to happen. You don't want young
children to have to go through that. But there is
a mental toughness that gets forged there that when you
end up on an NFL team or you end up
in a professional sport, you've been tested in a lot
of ways. This doesn't even compare to it the pressure
that you feel when you and I might look at
an eighty thousand seat stadium, or if you're looking at
(12:35):
the you know, the SEC one hundred thousand seat stadiums,
these venues where there's just people and noise and distractions.
How guys are able to rise above that because a
lot of what happened in their their formative years. Golden
is a testament to that, in addition to the fact
that the guy has elite traits for an NFL receiver.
And you know, I've been doing some interviews the last
(12:55):
couple of weeks and people asking about, you know, how
are the Packers going to incorporate all these guys, How
are they going to be able to figure out what
their path forward is and giving guys opportunities and targets
and touches and snaps, And the way I look at
it is, Yeah, it is going to be up to
matt Lafleur in the coaching staff to figure out how
they want to divvy that up. But it's also going
to be about that group earning it. And the more
(13:16):
opportunities you're in, the more opportunities you're given. And I
feel like Matthew Golden is coming in much like Baron
Sorel different type of backgrounds, different types of upbringings. But
this is a guy that is going to get that
first chance to be in the NFL. Yeah, it's great
to have that contract fully guaranteed. It's great to have
that money in the bank. But there's so much yet
they're out for you and getting through that rookie contract
(13:37):
and getting the unrestricted free agency and getting the possibilities
of extensions. This is just the beginning. It's just the
beginning of a much larger story.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah, And I think coming up over the next few
weeks here as the Packers get into OTAs in mini camp,
we're just going to get a taste of what this
rookie draft class is going to do on the field.
And quite frankly, I think the coaches are going to
be feeling out like, you know, okay, where are these
guys comfortable?
Speaker 1 (14:02):
What does it look like they can do best right away?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
And then the coaches are going to sort of take
that experimental information from OTAs and then figure out how
to work them into certain reps and whatnot into training
camp to build them up because you know, whichever side
of the ball it is, they're just they're learning a
playbook from scratch in the NFL, which is which is
(14:26):
no easy task for anybody. That's actually a topic I
want to get to as well in a minute, but
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years of better. All right, on the topic of the playbook,
an interesting comment made last week when the media met
with the offensive and defensive assistant coaches. I want to
(15:06):
focus on some comments from the offensive coaches right now.
Jason Brabel, the Packers passing game coordinator, previously wide receivers
coach a couple of years ago, was promoted to passing
game coordinator under Matt Lafleur. He actually referenced he was
asked about a young rookie like Matthew Golden Saveon Williams.
(15:27):
These wide receivers that come in and they need to learn,
they need to learn an NFL playbook, and how challenging
is that versus, you know, what they learned in college.
And and Vrabel estimated that that a college playbook is
probably only about one fourth or maybe one third the
size of an NFL playbook. And that's one of those
(15:48):
things you just have to you have to stop and
remember that when it comes to these young players and
when they're starting their their NFL journeys, the game, the
game is played at a significantly more complex level at
the NFL than it is at college, even at the
even at the height of Division one, because you're dealing
(16:10):
with absolutely the best athletes at every position, the best
coaches at every position, the best coordinators in the sport.
And so the challenge for these guys learning an NFL playbook,
it's it's a phrase that we use all the time,
but you have to understand just how challenging it is
because of how different it is from the college game.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Yeah, and I love Jason Vrabel. I've said this numerous times.
And the guy, he's going to be a coordinator, an
offensive coordinator some day. I really hope he gets opportun
to be a head coach.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Because I think I think he's on his way.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
From the media perspective already got it down. Yeah, I
mean the way that he can talk, like where you know,
he doesn't create questions for his receivers, but he addresses
things earnestly and honestly. And then also the way he
expands on stuff. Again, much like Jeff Hafley, There's just
so much you learn from him in conversations like that.
And I think you and I to some degree would
understand and know that the complex the complexity of an
(17:05):
NFL playbook is going to be more than a college playbook.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
In most cases, it's just the way the.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Game is played. It's the developmental system for the NFL
at some level. It's going to get more complicated as
you rise throughout that course. That said, when you put
tangible numbers to that, you put comparisons to it, it
really does drive home the idea that there is so
much these guys have to learn coming into the National
Football League. Yes, occasionally you're going to have dudes that
come in and just blow the hinges off the door
(17:32):
right from day one. The Clay Matthews of the world
exist right also first round picks, but at the same time,
you're going to have to be able to learn to
take all the tools that made you successful at the
college level and figure out what translates and what works
well at the NFL. The scouts project that can you
fulfill those projections? Can you turn that potential into production?
(17:52):
And I feel like that's where as much as we
want to perseverate on where those receivers are and what
Matthew Golden's going to do and what's say E Williams
is going to do right off the bat, you have
to remember that these are investments in the future. Anthony
Belton is going to be in an investment into the
future regardless he's on the starting five this year, and
occasionally it's going to take a year or two. It's
going to be the Sean Ryans that break into the
lineup in year three and then become starters finally in
(18:14):
a full fledged fashion. That's just the way development goes,
and that's the way the game is played. The exciting
thing for me, though, as we talked about previously, the
fact that Green Bay took a position where you and
I talked about all the different skill sets and all
the different types of playmakers they have, and they somehow
found a way to make that even more dynamic.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Yeah, they created even greater variety to the types of
players and the types of weapons that they have. I'm
going to run down some other comments from the offensive
coaches that that sort of caught my ear, and then
I'll just I'll throw it to you if you have
a reaction to any or all of them. Another comment
that Jason Vrabel made is with regard to Luke Getzi,
(18:55):
who is now back on the Packers coaching staff after
a few years away. He's he's a senior offensive assistant.
He was back towards the end of last season in
you know, a different type of capacity, not necessarily officially,
you know, under contract on the coaching staff kind of thing.
But Vrabel said towards the end of last season that
(19:19):
when Getsy was watching practices, a guy that really jumped
out at him was Dantavian Wicks. Yes, and I think
with the season that Wicks had last year and some
of the frustrations with the job, the drops and and
you know, him putting a lot of pressure on himself
to succeed. Just the fact that that comment was made
by Luke Getsy towards the end of last season, I
(19:40):
think is something to keep in mind. With Dontavian Wicks.
Luke Butkis the offensive line coach. He actually made the
comment with regard to Zach Tom, the Packers right tackle,
who is potentially headed for a long term contract extension
here coming up, you know, maybe in the near future
or not so long term future. He made a comment
(20:02):
that that Zach Tom was actually not all that happy
about his season last year, and you're reminded when you
hear that, you're reminded that as much as you know,
it was sort of like, oh, Zach Tom's got right
tackle lockdown, nobody's worried about over there. But he did
have to come back from a torn pectorals a last spring,
and he wasn't really back to full strength probably for
(20:23):
quite a while even though he was back on the field.
But Zach Tom was working through a heck of a
lot last year and yet was still a pretty darn
solid right tackle over there. But it's a reminder of
maybe just how much better Zach Tom could be in
twenty twenty five if he is at full strength. And
then another comment that caught my year coming from Ben Sermons,
(20:45):
the running backs coach, and Ben Sermons is the last
coach to stand up at a podium and try to
create headlines of any kind whatsoever. But he actually said
that Josh. He thought Josh Jacobs looks better right now
just in the offseason work and the training and whatnot
that they're doing then he did last year at this time.
That's another thing that just it kind of opens your eyes.
(21:07):
It's like, oh, Okay, a guy with three hundred some
carries and thirteen hundred rushing yard last year is actually
looking even better. Not that I'm necessarily surprised by that,
but anyway, those were some comments that caught.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
My ear, just wondering your reaction to any of them.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Two things here, One with Josh Shacobs. Does it come
as a surprise, No, I get that. But also when
you hear the way he talked at the end of
last season, have you ever heard of another player that
probably sounded as motivated just to play Week one of
the following season as Josh Jacobs was coming out of Philadelphia,
No kidding, whether it was his comments in the postgame
locker room or even in the weeks after, you know,
(21:42):
at the super Bowl and everything else that came this
guy clearly's champing at the bit to get back at
this thing. And if you think about NFL running backs
and where he came from, it took him five years,
I don't want to say escape, but to find a
culture in a team and basically be able to pick
where he wanted to be. And now he's there, and
(22:02):
I think this is a guy that doesn't want to
waste that opportunity understanding what the clock looks like for
him and making sure that he makes hey while the
sun is still shining, as my grandfather would say.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Secondly, the Luke Getsy comment might have been the most
telling of anything that came out of the coordinator or
coach's comments.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
And just to be clear, Luke Getsy was not act
out there at the podium. This is Jason Rabel talking
about a conversation that he had with Luke Getsy toward
the end of last season. Correct.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Yeah, because Luke and the senior assistant role is not speaking.
But when you're saying what relaying what Jason Rabel was
saying that Luke Getsy said, one thing that I immediately
thought of is we focus so much on his background
as a quarterback and as the quarterbacks coach for Aaron
Rodgers and then a two time offensive coordinator. You sometimes
can easily forget that this is the guy that was
the Packers' receiving coach when not only Jordy Nelson was
(22:52):
the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, but also when
DeVante Adams really broke out as a legitimate, bonafide, top shelf,
potential Hall of Fame receiver. Yeah, he's seen those traits
up close and personal, both when you have an established
wide out like Jordy that's doing well into his later career,
or a guy like Davante who was a second round
(23:13):
pick with everything in front of him. So when he
says that about Dundwan Tavian Wicks, it again doesn't necessarily
surprise me because of everything he showed his rookie season,
but it does give you an idea that these guys
are all human. Things happen, but the potential is still
very much there. Wix is gonna obviously have to work
for it this summer. He's going to be in this
competition again. As we just talked about, finding those snaps
(23:34):
is not going to be easy. Finding those targets is
not going to be easy. But this guy's clearly shown
game breaking tendencies that can put you in a win column.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, I'm and we'll be talking about it a lot
as the spring and summer goes along, go along the
competition that is going to be developing here at wide receiver,
and I guess I just wanted to point out that
for all the excitement there is about Matthew Golden's Avion
Williams and how the Packers are going to use them,
(24:04):
and everybody knows Romeo Dobbs and Christian Watson who's coming
back from the injury. They're both in a contract year
and everything, and then you have Jaden Reid and don
Tavian Wicks from that next draft class. Don't be writing
off any of those other guys. I mean, this is
the theseus. There is not a single one of those
guys that is a finished product in the NFL. Their
their their story, their book has not yet been written.
(24:27):
And that's what I think is going to be so
exciting here moving forward into twenty twenty five at that position,
because the Packers have a ton of young talent, they're
kind of shoved into one room and they're going to
be out there fighting for snaps and fighting for targets,
as you said, and the cream is going to have
to rise to the top. And that's that's how this
thing is set up, and we'll have to see how
(24:48):
it unfolds.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Conjecture always for whatever reason in the offseason, Trump's context
and I feel like, you know all the stuff that
has been written about the receiver position and who's the
wide receiver one, and how does all this thing shuffle out?
What you forget is Christian Watson's not going to be there,
at least at the beginning. How does that affect things.
That's all hypotheticals if Christian Watson's healthy, and how the
(25:10):
Packers would approach their offseason. But we can't sit here
and talk about how important Christian Watson is like we
did last season and then not acknowledge when he's not
there that the Packers have to make a move. There
has to be a response. I mean that has nothing
to do with the other receivers in the room. It
has to do with the fact that Christian Watson is
pretty darn good as a football player, and defenses have
(25:32):
to handle the Packers differently when he's out there. That threat,
at least momentarily is on the shelf. So what are
you going to do? You have to put more jars
on the shelf. That's what Matthew Golden was, That's what
Savian William was, and that's what Mkole Hardman was. So
I've talked to you about this before. We'll continue to
talk about it, especially once OTA's begin here shortly. This
(25:54):
is as deep in terms of the way the Packers
have structured their roster as my time on the beat
at all these various positions. They may not have as
many proven assets at those positions, but there are so
many different ways they can go. Why does that matter?
Because when there is an injury, that means you have
another guy that can step up into that. We do
not set a depth chart. We do not set a
(26:14):
fifty three man roster and say, okay, well this is
how it's going to be the entire season. It rarely
works out like that, right. The Packers at this point
they wanted options. Fans wanted options. Guess what, people, you
got options?
Speaker 2 (26:26):
The Packers are going to have plenty of them. We
also did hear from the defensive assistant coaches last week,
but we will get into some of their comments on
our next show. For now, we'll call it a rap
on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow
all of our coverage of the team on packers dot com,
and if you haven't checked it out yet, be sure
to click on Wes's in depth profile of Baron Surrell.
(26:47):
You will not be disappointed for Wes, I am Mike.
Thank you for tuning in. Everybody, We will see you
next time.
Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by my trust
in colleague West Hodkowitz. We're coming to you hear from
our studios at lambeau Field, Wes with a little bit
more to talk about regarding Green Bay's draft class, and
specifically one draft pick whom whose story you dove into
(00:35):
a little bit deeper. He was a great story that
we already talked about, the fourth round pick, Baron Surrell,
defensive lineman out of Texas. But you talk to some
other folks behind the scenes part of his background. There's
a really well written profile piece that is now posted
on packers dot com. Congratulations on all the hard work
(00:56):
you put into it. But tell us about some of
these folks you talk to and what you learned about
a young man whom Packers fans are already kind of
starting to fall in love with a little bit.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
No, thank you, Michael, that's very kind of you to say,
And obviously a lot of the credit goes to Baron.
His mom, Selena Gibbons, was very accommodating with the amount
of time she gave me. Obviously, the number of photos
she had. I think in all my years doing this,
I don't know if I've had more options as far
as illustrating a story with outside photos than what Selena
gave me. And then talking to Mike Brandle's econ professor
(01:31):
at Texas. It just gives you a really strong idea
of who this guy is. Because I think my number
one thought when we came out of draft weekend is
who is this human being that decided to come up
to Green Bay, Wisconsin and spend the week here when
he was probably going to be a day two, day
three selection and then suddenly gets selected by the team
(01:51):
that the draft is being held at. And when you
start to understand the way that Baron is wired and
where he comes from down in Louisiana, New Orleans, and
why he's always been so motivated. Again, this is a
kid that was asking for speed ladders for Christmas. He
was asking for concussion helmets with the latest technology to
protect himself. He was a dude who, no matter what
(02:14):
it took in the classroom, he wanted to make sure
that he was going to be able to tie the
academics to the athletics with it. And at the end
of the day. I mean, what an incredible life he's
already led in twenty two years. I mean, he had
offers to Northwestern to duke, he ends up settling on Texas.
He always wanted to play in the SEC. His senior
year of college, he's able to play in the SEC,
(02:35):
makes it to the College Football Playoff back to back years.
But more than anything, understanding his wiring and what motivates
him and Selena had a tremendous anecdote about when he
was little, saying to his mom, you know, I want
to make you a millionaire someday. And this guy is
willing to do whatever it takes to excel in his
(02:56):
chosen profession, and it just so happens to be that
he's a football player. So I also want to give
a quick shout out to Mike Brandle, who was the
professor that very generously went on Twitter after the draft
and really expounded on how special this guy is. Three
and a half years he graduates from Texas, He's in
an introduction to macroeconomics class spring of twenty twenty two,
(03:18):
doesn't do well on the first exam. His brother, Avery's
the one that's kind of telling him, hey, maybe check
in with the professor. Brandle Off opens up his office
to him. They end up having weekly meetings and next
thing you know, a few years later, Brandal, who was
born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, UW grad got his master's from Milwaukee,
goes down to Texas and he's sitting there scrolling through
(03:38):
the internet and he finds out that Baron Serrell not
only got drafted, not only showed up in Green Bay,
but then also got taken and selected by Brandell's childhood team.
It's those type of things that sort of show you
how small the world can be sometimes and also just
the power of motivation. And I think there's so many
of us that at nineteen twenty years old, we didn't
(03:58):
have it all figured out. And this is a kid
in Baron Cerell, who since basically he could play football,
since he could play sports, he's had a very clear
vision of what he wants to accomplish.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I was really drawn into a lot of the academic
details that you had in the story. First the piece
about his folks ponying up the money to put him
into a private school for high school. But with the
caveat that, you know, mom and dad aren't paying for c's.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
This is it.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
You got to get your a's and b's here, if
we're going to do this, if we're going to make
the sacrifice and put you on this path. And then
you follow that up with Professor Brandle, the econ professor
at the University of Texas, where Sorell doesn't do well
in the first exam, as you said, so he's looking
for some extra help. And then he's starting to have
(04:50):
these weekly zoom meetings with his professor to get you know,
to get better explanation, to try to get the material
down better so he can succeed in the class. And
it's a handful of sessions into this thing before Professor
Brandle even knows this is a football player on the
other side of the screen, because you think normally in
(05:11):
those situations, a student athlete is going to go to
the professor and say, hey, let you know, it's like
I've got my sports practice and my schedule is super
busy and I'm not doing well in this class and
I need you to, you know, do you have some
time to help me. However that might go, cREL just
went to him as any other student who needs help.
This wasn't about him being a football player. This wasn't
(05:32):
about seeking any special treatment because he was on scholarship
for with the Texas Longhorns, and he got the grades
turned around and he was successful in the class with
the extra help from the professor. So it's things like
that when you find out those when you find out
those other pieces to a player's background that aren't necessarily
(05:52):
about sports. They're about the other things that they need
to dedicate their lives to in order to create that
successful path into sports. Those are the types of background stories,
the background details that draw me in and quite frankly,
I can't wait to get to know Baron Currell even
(06:12):
better here as he begins his NFL career with the Packers.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah. I appreciate that, mikel I will say too. I
said this to him on the phone. I will extend
the invitation to him. Now, Mike Brandle, next time you
come up to Green Bay, I mean, thenner on me
come over to lambeau Field anytime you want. Like, I
really enjoyed my conversation with this guy because he's an
incredibly intelligent academic, I mean, a PhD in his field,
(06:36):
worked at the University of Texas, Austin went to Ohio State.
I mean, he's done a lot in his profession and
still has that Midwestern nice sort of like sure reality,
just like you could sit down and have a an
Arnold Palmer with him. But one thing I really enjoyed
about his story he talked about how he's kind of
an old school minded professor. Nice guy. You look at
his rate for my professor page, which I did when
(06:57):
I was doing my research. People talked about just how
one of the best professors they've ever had. But he's
tough minded, like he's not just going to hand out
a's and bes. He even said like he would love it.
And it's not about athletes, it's just about any student
in general, the people that don't attend class, that don't
do well in the class, and at the end of
the semester, like what can I do to get a
BEE or what can I do to get an A?
And he's like, the level of this is you know,
(07:19):
d's end at sixty, you're in the forties. There's not
a whole lot I can do to get you up
into the BES. And then here's a guy in Sorel
who's literally his first exam of the course where he
takes the time and says, hey, this isn't clicking for me.
You got to understand Baron had a four point six
GPA in high school. And if you heard what I
said earlier in the show, I mean he was getting
(07:40):
recruited by major Division one colleges with huge academic you
know backgrounds there, including the University of Northwestern University, which
may or may not be in you know, a school
that Mike Spofford went to be that as it may,
it shows you the determination this young guy has. And
if I may, I just want to throw this out
there as well. Looking at the draft day experience, there
(08:02):
were two elements of this that I really enjoyed learning
more about. Kudos to the Commissioner, Roger Goodell. The NFL
could not have been more welcoming to Sorell. Once Chris Cabot,
his agent, had said, you know, my client would really
like to attend the draft. This has been a lifelong
dream of his. The NFL made it happen. They made
him feel like any other top prospect. Roger Goodell's commitments
(08:23):
After that first day, it goes a lot of different directions.
There's relations enjoy he doesn't go up there. This isn't
COVID anymore. He's not reading every single draft pick. But
he made it a point at the end of day
two to go back into the green room when Baron Serell,
a wonderful three piece suit he had on, is sitting
there with his family. Waited hours with his family to
see will I get drafted? Will I get drafted? The
(08:44):
call never comes. Goodell goes back there and tells him,
if you want to stay, I will be there for you.
I will announce you on Saturday. Because Sorel and his
family weren't sure. They were like, should we stay, can
we stay? Do we need to leave? And they could
not have been more welcome in that regard. And then
once it does happen, he has this Cinderella fairy tale
type story that happens where he gets picked by the packers,
(09:07):
he gets embraced by the fans, he does a Lambeau
leap Mark Murphy is pushing the button down at the
tunnel to bring him down.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Onto the field.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I mean, like just so much excitement that was going
that was happening there, and Selena says to him, like,
you know, make sure you stop and smell the Roses
and as much as he appreciated all of that, baron
telling her mom, I have it's time to work. Yeah,
(09:34):
this young man gets it. It wasn't just about the
NFL Draft. It's not about making his mom a millionaire.
It's about fulfilling his potential. Now he's with the Green
Bay Packers, he has an excellent opportunity to contribute to
this Jeff Athley defense and he wants to make sure
he does it.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Absolutely, and his story will be followed closely every step
of the way. Another piece of news with regarding the
draft class also University of Texas. The first round pick
Matthew Golden has signed his contract with the Packers. That is,
that is signed, sealed, delivered, official. We are long past,
(10:08):
you know, the era of extended draft pick holdouts and
things like that the way things go. But the Packers
at this point now just have one more draft pick
who has yet to sign. That his second round pick,
Anthony Belton. Some interesting things going on with second round
picks where there are a couple guys in that round
who have already signed, who got one hundred percent guaranteed contracts,
(10:30):
Which is kind of a new thing because because the
one hundred percent guaranteed contracts were pretty much just for
the first rounders. The way things have been going the
last couple of years, it's yeah, it's it's something that
has been progressing. It's progressed through the first rounders, and
now the one hundred percent guarantee is is creeping into
(10:52):
the second round draft picks. So I think that's holding
up some of the negotiations, you know, because really the
vast majority of the draft pick across the league who
have yet to sign our second round picks, that's what
everybody is waiting on. But congratulations to Matthew Golden. He
got his deal. And this is a young man who
obviously talked about his desire to buy back the family home,
(11:18):
his grandmother's house, and now that he's gonna have some
money in the bank, he'll probably start the process at
whatever it takes to get that property back in his family.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
It's one of the coolest things that happened a lot
of times in the NFL draft. Super sad like you
hate that, you know, for families, a lot of times
this happens, but also it's emotional. I remember I think
Eric Stokes when he got drafted in twenty one. I
want to say it was Eddie bought a house for
his grandmother. Yeah, I know Eddie Lacey did it. Yeah,
in twenty thirteen he bought a house for his mom
and down in Louisiana. I believe it was. You could
(11:53):
tell listening to Golden talk about this and what it
means to him and growing up in that household and
at times heaven to live in hotels with his mom
having to you know, live in the back, you know,
in the car of a Walmart parking lot in the
area because they didn't have some place to go. And
then he's living with different people as you know, his
mom's trying to get back up on her feet. Life
can be really hard on people. But you know, as
(12:15):
as Matt Lafleur and Brian Goodcuns Bull talked about, you
do not want that to happen. You don't want young
children to have to go through that. But there is
a mental toughness that gets forged there that when you
end up on an NFL team or you end up
in a professional sport, you've been tested in a lot
of ways. This doesn't even compare to it the pressure
that you feel when you and I might look at
an eighty thousand seat stadium, or if you're looking at
(12:35):
the you know, the SEC one hundred thousand seat stadiums,
these venues where there's just people and noise and distractions.
How guys are able to rise above that because a
lot of what happened in their their formative years. Golden
is a testament to that, in addition to the fact
that the guy has elite traits for an NFL receiver.
And you know, I've been doing some interviews the last
(12:55):
couple of weeks and people asking about, you know, how
are the Packers going to incorporate all these guys, How
are they going to be able to figure out what
their path forward is and giving guys opportunities and targets
and touches and snaps, And the way I look at
it is, Yeah, it is going to be up to
matt Lafleur in the coaching staff to figure out how
they want to divvy that up. But it's also going
to be about that group earning it. And the more
(13:16):
opportunities you're in, the more opportunities you're given. And I
feel like Matthew Golden is coming in much like Baron
Sorel different type of backgrounds, different types of upbringings. But
this is a guy that is going to get that
first chance to be in the NFL. Yeah, it's great
to have that contract fully guaranteed. It's great to have
that money in the bank. But there's so much yet
they're out for you and getting through that rookie contract
(13:37):
and getting the unrestricted free agency and getting the possibilities
of extensions. This is just the beginning. It's just the
beginning of a much larger story.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah, And I think coming up over the next few
weeks here as the Packers get into OTAs in mini camp,
we're just going to get a taste of what this
rookie draft class is going to do on the field.
And quite frankly, I think the coaches are going to
be feeling out like, you know, okay, where are these
guys comfortable?
Speaker 1 (14:02):
What does it look like they can do best right away?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
And then the coaches are going to sort of take
that experimental information from OTAs and then figure out how
to work them into certain reps and whatnot into training
camp to build them up because you know, whichever side
of the ball it is, they're just they're learning a
playbook from scratch in the NFL, which is which is
(14:26):
no easy task for anybody. That's actually a topic I
want to get to as well in a minute, but
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(14:46):
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years of better. All right, on the topic of the playbook,
an interesting comment made last week when the media met
with the offensive and defensive assistant coaches. I want to
(15:06):
focus on some comments from the offensive coaches right now.
Jason Brabel, the Packers passing game coordinator, previously wide receivers
coach a couple of years ago, was promoted to passing
game coordinator under Matt Lafleur. He actually referenced he was
asked about a young rookie like Matthew Golden Saveon Williams.
(15:27):
These wide receivers that come in and they need to learn,
they need to learn an NFL playbook, and how challenging
is that versus, you know, what they learned in college.
And and Vrabel estimated that that a college playbook is
probably only about one fourth or maybe one third the
size of an NFL playbook. And that's one of those
(15:48):
things you just have to you have to stop and
remember that when it comes to these young players and
when they're starting their their NFL journeys, the game, the
game is played at a significantly more complex level at
the NFL than it is at college, even at the
even at the height of Division one, because you're dealing
(16:10):
with absolutely the best athletes at every position, the best
coaches at every position, the best coordinators in the sport.
And so the challenge for these guys learning an NFL playbook,
it's it's a phrase that we use all the time,
but you have to understand just how challenging it is
because of how different it is from the college game.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Yeah, and I love Jason Vrabel. I've said this numerous times.
And the guy, he's going to be a coordinator, an
offensive coordinator some day. I really hope he gets opportun
to be a head coach.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Because I think I think he's on his way.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
From the media perspective already got it down. Yeah, I
mean the way that he can talk, like where you know,
he doesn't create questions for his receivers, but he addresses
things earnestly and honestly. And then also the way he
expands on stuff. Again, much like Jeff Hafley, There's just
so much you learn from him in conversations like that.
And I think you and I to some degree would
understand and know that the complex the complexity of an
(17:05):
NFL playbook is going to be more than a college playbook.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
In most cases, it's just the way the.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Game is played. It's the developmental system for the NFL
at some level. It's going to get more complicated as
you rise throughout that course. That said, when you put
tangible numbers to that, you put comparisons to it, it
really does drive home the idea that there is so
much these guys have to learn coming into the National
Football League. Yes, occasionally you're going to have dudes that
come in and just blow the hinges off the door
(17:32):
right from day one. The Clay Matthews of the world
exist right also first round picks, but at the same time,
you're going to have to be able to learn to
take all the tools that made you successful at the
college level and figure out what translates and what works
well at the NFL. The scouts project that can you
fulfill those projections? Can you turn that potential into production?
(17:52):
And I feel like that's where as much as we
want to perseverate on where those receivers are and what
Matthew Golden's going to do and what's say E Williams
is going to do right off the bat, you have
to remember that these are investments in the future. Anthony
Belton is going to be in an investment into the
future regardless he's on the starting five this year, and
occasionally it's going to take a year or two. It's
going to be the Sean Ryans that break into the
lineup in year three and then become starters finally in
(18:14):
a full fledged fashion. That's just the way development goes,
and that's the way the game is played. The exciting
thing for me, though, as we talked about previously, the
fact that Green Bay took a position where you and
I talked about all the different skill sets and all
the different types of playmakers they have, and they somehow
found a way to make that even more dynamic.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Yeah, they created even greater variety to the types of
players and the types of weapons that they have. I'm
going to run down some other comments from the offensive
coaches that that sort of caught my ear, and then
I'll just I'll throw it to you if you have
a reaction to any or all of them. Another comment
that Jason Vrabel made is with regard to Luke Getzi,
(18:55):
who is now back on the Packers coaching staff after
a few years away. He's he's a senior offensive assistant.
He was back towards the end of last season in
you know, a different type of capacity, not necessarily officially,
you know, under contract on the coaching staff kind of thing.
But Vrabel said towards the end of last season that
(19:19):
when Getsy was watching practices, a guy that really jumped
out at him was Dantavian Wicks. Yes, and I think
with the season that Wicks had last year and some
of the frustrations with the job, the drops and and
you know, him putting a lot of pressure on himself
to succeed. Just the fact that that comment was made
by Luke Getsy towards the end of last season, I
(19:40):
think is something to keep in mind. With Dontavian Wicks.
Luke Butkis the offensive line coach. He actually made the
comment with regard to Zach Tom, the Packers right tackle,
who is potentially headed for a long term contract extension
here coming up, you know, maybe in the near future
or not so long term future. He made a comment
(20:02):
that that Zach Tom was actually not all that happy
about his season last year, and you're reminded when you
hear that, you're reminded that as much as you know,
it was sort of like, oh, Zach Tom's got right
tackle lockdown, nobody's worried about over there. But he did
have to come back from a torn pectorals a last spring,
and he wasn't really back to full strength probably for
(20:23):
quite a while even though he was back on the field.
But Zach Tom was working through a heck of a
lot last year and yet was still a pretty darn
solid right tackle over there. But it's a reminder of
maybe just how much better Zach Tom could be in
twenty twenty five if he is at full strength. And
then another comment that caught my year coming from Ben Sermons,
(20:45):
the running backs coach, and Ben Sermons is the last
coach to stand up at a podium and try to
create headlines of any kind whatsoever. But he actually said
that Josh. He thought Josh Jacobs looks better right now
just in the offseason work and the training and whatnot
that they're doing then he did last year at this time.
That's another thing that just it kind of opens your eyes.
(21:07):
It's like, oh, Okay, a guy with three hundred some
carries and thirteen hundred rushing yard last year is actually
looking even better. Not that I'm necessarily surprised by that,
but anyway, those were some comments that caught.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
My ear, just wondering your reaction to any of them.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Two things here, One with Josh Shacobs. Does it come
as a surprise, No, I get that. But also when
you hear the way he talked at the end of
last season, have you ever heard of another player that
probably sounded as motivated just to play Week one of
the following season as Josh Jacobs was coming out of Philadelphia,
No kidding, whether it was his comments in the postgame
locker room or even in the weeks after, you know,
(21:42):
at the super Bowl and everything else that came this
guy clearly's champing at the bit to get back at
this thing. And if you think about NFL running backs
and where he came from, it took him five years,
I don't want to say escape, but to find a
culture in a team and basically be able to pick
where he wanted to be. And now he's there, and
(22:02):
I think this is a guy that doesn't want to
waste that opportunity understanding what the clock looks like for
him and making sure that he makes hey while the
sun is still shining, as my grandfather would say.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Secondly, the Luke Getsy comment might have been the most
telling of anything that came out of the coordinator or
coach's comments.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
And just to be clear, Luke Getsy was not act
out there at the podium. This is Jason Rabel talking
about a conversation that he had with Luke Getsy toward
the end of last season. Correct.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Yeah, because Luke and the senior assistant role is not speaking.
But when you're saying what relaying what Jason Rabel was
saying that Luke Getsy said, one thing that I immediately
thought of is we focus so much on his background
as a quarterback and as the quarterbacks coach for Aaron
Rodgers and then a two time offensive coordinator. You sometimes
can easily forget that this is the guy that was
the Packers' receiving coach when not only Jordy Nelson was
(22:52):
the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, but also when
DeVante Adams really broke out as a legitimate, bonafide, top shelf,
potential Hall of Fame receiver. Yeah, he's seen those traits
up close and personal, both when you have an established
wide out like Jordy that's doing well into his later career,
or a guy like Davante who was a second round
(23:13):
pick with everything in front of him. So when he
says that about Dundwan Tavian Wicks, it again doesn't necessarily
surprise me because of everything he showed his rookie season,
but it does give you an idea that these guys
are all human. Things happen, but the potential is still
very much there. Wix is gonna obviously have to work
for it this summer. He's going to be in this
competition again. As we just talked about, finding those snaps
(23:34):
is not going to be easy. Finding those targets is
not going to be easy. But this guy's clearly shown
game breaking tendencies that can put you in a win column.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, I'm and we'll be talking about it a lot
as the spring and summer goes along, go along the
competition that is going to be developing here at wide receiver,
and I guess I just wanted to point out that
for all the excitement there is about Matthew Golden's Avion
Williams and how the Packers are going to use them,
(24:04):
and everybody knows Romeo Dobbs and Christian Watson who's coming
back from the injury. They're both in a contract year
and everything, and then you have Jaden Reid and don
Tavian Wicks from that next draft class. Don't be writing
off any of those other guys. I mean, this is
the theseus. There is not a single one of those
guys that is a finished product in the NFL. Their
their their story, their book has not yet been written.
(24:27):
And that's what I think is going to be so
exciting here moving forward into twenty twenty five at that position,
because the Packers have a ton of young talent, they're
kind of shoved into one room and they're going to
be out there fighting for snaps and fighting for targets,
as you said, and the cream is going to have
to rise to the top. And that's that's how this
thing is set up, and we'll have to see how
(24:48):
it unfolds.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Conjecture always for whatever reason in the offseason, Trump's context
and I feel like, you know all the stuff that
has been written about the receiver position and who's the
wide receiver one, and how does all this thing shuffle out?
What you forget is Christian Watson's not going to be there,
at least at the beginning. How does that affect things.
That's all hypotheticals if Christian Watson's healthy, and how the
(25:10):
Packers would approach their offseason. But we can't sit here
and talk about how important Christian Watson is like we
did last season and then not acknowledge when he's not
there that the Packers have to make a move. There
has to be a response. I mean that has nothing
to do with the other receivers in the room. It
has to do with the fact that Christian Watson is
pretty darn good as a football player, and defenses have
(25:32):
to handle the Packers differently when he's out there. That threat,
at least momentarily is on the shelf. So what are
you going to do? You have to put more jars
on the shelf. That's what Matthew Golden was, That's what
Savian William was, and that's what Mkole Hardman was. So
I've talked to you about this before. We'll continue to
talk about it, especially once OTA's begin here shortly. This
(25:54):
is as deep in terms of the way the Packers
have structured their roster as my time on the beat
at all these various positions. They may not have as
many proven assets at those positions, but there are so
many different ways they can go. Why does that matter?
Because when there is an injury, that means you have
another guy that can step up into that. We do
not set a depth chart. We do not set a
(26:14):
fifty three man roster and say, okay, well this is
how it's going to be the entire season. It rarely
works out like that, right. The Packers at this point
they wanted options. Fans wanted options. Guess what, people, you
got options?
Speaker 2 (26:26):
The Packers are going to have plenty of them. We
also did hear from the defensive assistant coaches last week,
but we will get into some of their comments on
our next show. For now, we'll call it a rap
on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow
all of our coverage of the team on packers dot com,
and if you haven't checked it out yet, be sure
to click on Wes's in depth profile of Baron Surrell.
(26:47):
You will not be disappointed for Wes, I am Mike.
Thank you for tuning in. Everybody, We will see you
next time.
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