This is ridiculous

IronMan

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He worked for he Packers for 22 years and you are going to fire him for this? Petty much? Insecure much, McCarthy?

Offhand remark to coach gets Packers employee sacked - JSOnline

Mike Wood can't remember the last time he watched a Green Bay Packers home game on television.

For at least 22 years, Wood has worked on game days at Lambeau Field as a part-timer with the stadium's maintenance staff.

It was a job he loved because it meant working for a franchise he loves.

That relationship is over. Wood, 53, was fired Nov. 1, the day the Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 38-26.

He says it had something to do with a comment he made to head coach Mike McCarthy on the Thursday before the game.

Wood was initially reluctant to tell his version of what happened but then he agreed to speak to a reporter. His friends say Wood, known as Woody, deserves better.

Wood said he was sitting in a maintenance cart in a stadium tunnel when McCarthy was talking with members of the grounds crew.

With the season's most-hyped game only three days away, Wood said he yelled to McCarthy, "Hey coach, let's get the boys ready to kick some butt this weekend."

Wood says that's all he said.

The next day, a Friday, Wood came back to Lambeau Field to work. "Nothing was said," he said.

But on Sunday, Wood arrived at the stadium about 11:30 a.m. and immediately began his regular routine. There were nets to hang, and the field had to be cleared of debris, he said.

Wood said Allen Johnson, the team's fields manager, approached him. "What did you say to McCarthy?" he asked.

Wood said he repeated what he had told McCarthy. Wood said he was told that McCarthy thought he heard him make a comment along the lines of "don't lay an egg" in the game.

"I'm telling you, I had no knowledge of that," Wood said he told Johnson.

Moments later, Wood said Ted Eisenreich, the team's director of facility operations, approached him.

"If you didn't say it, who did?" Eisenreich asked Wood.

"I said I didn't know," Wood answered.

The next thing Wood knew he was being escorted from Lambeau Field and told he was out of a job. "Allen said to me, 'Woody, we can't have that stuff. We have to let you go.' "

Wood said he shook Johnson's hand and left.

Reached for comment, the Packers released a statement: "The organization has standards of conduct that apply to all employees, full-time and part-time, in order to maintain a respectful workplace. Mr. Wood's supervisors determined he made an inappropriate comment, and he was relieved of his duties."

Wood said he cried when he realized what had happened. He went to the Stadium View bar to watch the game, still bewildered by his firing.

"This was going to be my last year," said Wood, who said he had been working for the Packers for at least 22 years and as many as 25. "The truth is it was starting to get to me, the cold weather and so on," he said.

On Thursday, Wood, who has worked for the City of Green Bay for 34 years as a truck driver, insisted he had no idea what McCarthy thought he heard.

"I will die in my grave knowing that I didn't say anything about laying an egg," he said. "I was shook up."

Wood says he's not even sure it's worth going back.

"I don't want to go back and be scrutinized," Wood said. "It's not the way I wanted to go out. But I know it didn't happen the way they said it did."

This guy
said it best:

Can't stop dumb penalties, sacks or poor special teams play but packers will crush non football employee comments period!

I don't care if he did say "don't lay an egg"

You are going to fire him for THAT? Child please!
 

ThinkICare

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That is terrible that happened. Is McCarthy really that uptight? If he even thinks he even thinks he hears a negative comment, you're fired? That's definitely not a good look.
 

SpartaChris

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Yeah, Mike McCarthy gets my ********* of the week award for that. Granted it was the guy's last season, but it's a horrible thing to do.
 

JeffQuery

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I heard the directive came down from 'Evil Ted' who was spying on the employee from a woodchuck hole.....
 

longtimefan

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Just have to say no real proof MM had him fired..

Is it possible he said he had him fired, yup..but we do not know YET
 

angryguy77

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Players can open there mouths and criticize the team and nothing happens. Jolly can headbutt a player and it results in 7 for the viks. But we cannot have this guy saying whatever he did. What a piece of work. Yet another example of why he needs to go
 

DILLIGAFF

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Wish MM and TT would hold their players to the same standard, maybe our penalties and our basic lack of discipline would improve so we could win a game.

First sign of the end of MM and TT.
 

robdog

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WOW that is just school yard bullsh*t.

I think the next home game we need to have A LOT of signs that say "Don't lay an egg!" Or at least get the chant going. This is just sad...

Really... I mean really...
 

doughsellz

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If there's any truth to this I hope it gets picked up nationally by PTI or Jim Rome or Inside The NFL. I'm embarrassed both for the organization & MM's family. The team needs to get to the bottom of this.
 

PackersRS

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Yeah. It must be emphasised that this must be proven. If it was indeed tthat what he said, or even if he, indeed, said "don't lay an egg", then I stand by my first post. But if he insulted MM, or someone, then it's a different issue. You just canot go insulting your superiors. It'll get you fired ANYWHERE.
 

doughsellz

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Hmmm, a long-time employee probably not in the proper mindset to do his job properly, reportedly having trouble making up his mind about retirement, has a few words with Coach McCarthy & is shown the exit by the Packers. Deja vu.
 

PackersRS

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Hmmm, a long-time employee probably not in the proper mindset to do his job properly, reportedly having trouble making up his mind about retirement, has a few words with Coach McCarthy & is shown the exit by the Packers. Deja vu.
Are you implying that Mr. Wood will soon be a part of the Minnesota Vikings Staff?
 

Ted's Zombie Army

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Because the Packers happen to suck at the moment and because McCarthy is part of that, doesn't change any policy that the organization might have and that policy probably was explained to Mr. Wood once or more in his 22 years. Sure he just encouraged the coach and didn't make the "egg" comment. We were all born yesterday. Do your job when you're on the clock and save your comments to the coach for forums like this. I understand this policy. Nearly every business operates under the same principle. Say the wrong thing to the right person and you will find yourself being escorted out the door. Workplaces aren't democracies.
 

longtimefan

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Hearing that these type of employees are told that the only thing they can say to players/coaches is hello anything more can led to dismissal

Doesnt matter if he said Mike your my hero, not suppose to talk to them

but if the policy is true than they did nothing wrong

but personally that is one asinine policy and should not be followed so tightly
 

dansz15

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The whole situation is a joke. Whether or not the guy said anything I don't know if it warrants firing, it seems like MM is trying to take as much focus off him and his garbage play calling as much as he can. With MM on the sidelines it almost feels like the Packers are losing that family-team kind of feel that they are known for. Greatttt another awesome story from Lambeau this year!
 

Hauschild

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Wait - from everything I've read, Mac wasn't the one who fired the employee. It was handled by the heads of the grounds crew.

More facts are required before we can come to reasonable conclusions.
 

PackersRS

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From what is appearing, he made a derrogative comment to MM, MM said something back, MM asked who was Woody's supervisor, and Woody was fired.

It seems like MM had A LOT to do with his termination, just not directly, and that it was termination for cause.

But then again, MM could be lying, and the employee could've just made a innocent comment...

Or it could all be thruth, but MM could've just not cared about the subject, and it was indeed his supervisors who took the iniciative.

It's all mere speculation, really. Nothing concrete can be concluded from this episode, until some proof comes out.
 

News Bot

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McCarthy says he didn't fire anybody

Earlier today, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Mike Wood, a part-time employee at Lambeau Field for 22 years, was fired on the day of the Vikings-Packers game due to something he supposedly said three days earlier to coach Mike...

Source: ProFootballTalk.com
 

Ted's Zombie Army

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We don't know that this employee didn't have a history of cracking wise either, to McCarthy or others. It may not have been the first incident in 22 years of "loyalty", as all these stories make it sound. The truth about all this probably lies somewhere in the murky middle. Still, given the team's present circumstances, it doesn't do McCarthy any good to be mixed in with a story like this.
 

Hauschild

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I'd suggest that [that] particular job is the type of job that doesn't open very often, and when it does, there are hundreds of applicants willing to work for below-market pay, just to be associated with the packers.

Therefore, if the guy had a history, I would assume he wouldn't last 22 years.

But, even if the guy said what he said, is it worth terminating an employee and all that goes with it - especially considering the current climate? What's wrong with a formal counseling session and written reprimand?

Not enough info out to assess reasonably.
 

Sideline_Diva

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As far as I'm concerned, the 3 stooges can all suck an egg. It's just plain childish and sad at the same time that a coach of the NFL has the skin of a potato with a comment like what was said. A man with that kind of sensitivity needs to be fired.

And as for Coach's sad attempt at damage control...the PR machine has breaking apart since Ted's disaster...and the hiring of Ari
 

DILLIGAFF

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I think one point that has been over looked is the timing of this statement, before the vikings game. If this was before the Browns, nothing would have come of it.

I am sure that the Packer organization from Murphy on down has been clear to all employees that their own personal views of the BF trade will not be tolerated. No public criticism by a Packer employee that can be interpreted as a stab at the organization for trading BF will not go unpunished. I did not get the memo or attend the meetings, but I am sure many were sent and attended. I am sure this has been a Packer organization law that was clearly stated, if broken could mean immediate termination.

Not a very good move on Woods part.

No organization can have people within putting down the organization publicly. As small and insignificant as this was, sent a message out to the rest of the employees that you are either for us 100% or leave.

Sad part of all this is that the Packers players need this kind of leadership when it comes to stupid penalties and lack of discipline on the field.
 

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