TOPackerFan
Cheesehead
From Cliff Christl's blog:
"There have been so many different versions offered by people in the Packers organization and various writers about the Jamal Reynolds pick in 2001 and whether retiring general manager Ron Wolf or Mike Sherman was mostly to blame that it might be instructive to look back at a story that appeared in The Sporting News in its April 30, 2001 edition. Paul Attner, a writer for the magazine, was given access to the Packers' draft room and wrote a first-hand account. It was emailed to me by one of our readers, Kevin Minshell, after I had recently written a column about how the 2001 draft was still haunting the Packers, more so than any other. What's interesting in Attner's account is that no mention is made of defensive tackle Marcus Stroud, who would have been an ideal pick there, and that the Packers' top two targets in the first round, Reynolds and Koren Robinson, both have been busts to this point.
Here's what Attner wrote:
"Wolf and Sherman were pretty confident that their first-round target - pass-rushing end Jamal Reynolds of Florida State - would still be around when they picked 10th in the first round. But that meant they needed to fix their other major need, receiver, in the second. And they were convinced that Robert Ferguson of Texas A&M would be gone by their present turn in that round. A trade with (Bill) Walsh would move them up six spots in the second, from 16 to 10, and from 18 to 9 in the third, and add a high fourth, where they currently had no choice. It meant giving up one of their three third-round picks in what became a five-for-three transaction. But Wolf knew Sherman, who was having trouble sleeping, would be buoyed by the positives of the deal.
"So four phone calls later, Walsh and Wolf agreed to agree. 'This could do it,' Sherman said to Wolf. Later that night at dinner, Wolf reviewed the 88th trade of his 10 years in Green Bay. 'In order for this to work, we've got to have both Reynolds and Ferguson,' he said. 'Otherwise, this might become the dumbest trade of my career. I could look like an idiot.'
"That would be a helluva way to go into retirement.
"In March, the Packers sent reserve quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to Seattle for an exchange of first-round choices and one of the Seahawks' third picks. The deal moved the Packers into the 10th spot of the opening round, assuring them of landing an impact player, a key aim of their draft strategy. The Seahawks dealt exclusively with Sherman, who would then talk to Wolf. The two men chuckled about how quickly things were changing.
"Now the 49ers deal has bolstered their spirits, and Wolf enters Saturday in a chipper mood. He had slept well the night before, and walked for an hour earlier in the morning. The draft room itself seems normal; it is filled with scouts, coaches, team executives and some members of the club's Executive Committee. Wolf thrives best in a casual atmosphere, with people moving in and out of the room, where he can joke and keep up a constant banter.
"As their first selection draws near, the room becomes quiet. The previous day, Wolf and Sherman had discussed strategy for three hours. Sherman had brought a laminated sheet, filled with 13 possible scenarios the Packers could face when their pick arrived. He had already checked off who he would select in each case. Now he wanted Wolfs thinking. They agreed every time. They expected either Reynolds or receiver Koren Robinson to be available. If both were there, they would go with Reynolds because they needed defensive linemen. If neither was around, they would go with defensive end Andre Carter, then linebacker Dan Morgan. No arguments allowed in Wolf's draft room, not when all the decisionmaking is already final.
"'Anyone nervous?' Wolf says after the fifth pick. 'I'm getting nervous. Isn't this exciting?' Gradually, a knot is growing in his stomach, just as it had done in 38 previous years. The knot increases when the 49ers trade with Seattle to get the draft's seventh pick. San Francisco needs a defensive lineman; maybe that means Reynolds. Instead, the 49ers go with Carter. When the Bears choose receiver David Terrell at eight, Wolf is ecstatic. 'We got one,' he says. Reynolds and Robinson are still on the board.
"The Seahawks, picking next, select Robinson. The Packers already are calling Reynolds. 'We are considering taking you as our first pick; do you think it is a good one?' Sherman says to him. Reynolds tells him yes. 'I thought so,' says Sherman. Laughter fills the draft room.
"Wolf jokingly asks Reggie McKenzie, his director of pro personnel, if Reynolds has two arms and two legs. McKenzie, straight-faced, assures him he does. He soon tells scouting coordinator Danny Mock to give Reynolds' name to the Packers' draft liaison in New York.
"When (Paul) Tagliabue makes the announcement, everyone in the room breaks into sustained applause. Wolf smiles.
"Before the second-round pick, Edie sits with him in the draft room. They usually eat dinner together at the end of the draft, as they will do this year, but she double dips with a first-day session. It is a family affair; son Eliot, a college freshman and aspiring general manager, places names on the team-by-team draft board. Edie brings him good luck. Ferguson is still available when the Packers' turn comes. Sherman and Wolf nod at each other. Wolf isn't an idiot after all.
"Sherman, just two years removed from being an assistant coach, has spent the past seven weeks getting a crash course in drafting from Wolf. Sherman would make notes and then enter them in a journal. 'Wolfisms,' he calls them. 'What better resource can I ask for than to have this man?' he says. 'He has developed a Packer Way. We grind out the draft, evaluating and then reevaluating. And he involves everyone, coaches and scouts. We'd like to keep the model going.' Wolf will be a consultant for three years; Sherman says he will call on him often.
"'It is amazing when it works, isn't it?' says Wolf after the first day. He's convinced Reynolds will be an immediate starter; Ferguson also should be one within a season. They later grab two project-type players in the third round, cornerback Bhawoh Jue and linebacker Torrance Marshall, then begin the second day by selecting guard Bill Ferrario of Wisconsin in the fourth. Wolf spends Sunday morning fretting that he should have chosen Ferrario in the third, so he is relieved that he is still available. To take his mind off things, he sits in his office and watches a car race.
"At 2:12 p.m. Central time, the Packers' last selection of the draft, in the sixth round, is announced. It is a classic scouting pick-a sleeper, David Martin of Tennessee, a wide receiver Wolf believes can make it as a right end. 'He's one of those players you want because you want to show you can project someone's talent that others might miss,' says Wolf. Before the announcement is made in New York, the Packers' draft room fills in anticipation of the moment. Sustained cheers greet the choice of Martin, the final pick of Wolf's decade in Green Bay. The previous day, all the scouts and personnel staff had posed for group and individual pictures with him. Now someone yells, 'Speech, speech.'"
"There have been so many different versions offered by people in the Packers organization and various writers about the Jamal Reynolds pick in 2001 and whether retiring general manager Ron Wolf or Mike Sherman was mostly to blame that it might be instructive to look back at a story that appeared in The Sporting News in its April 30, 2001 edition. Paul Attner, a writer for the magazine, was given access to the Packers' draft room and wrote a first-hand account. It was emailed to me by one of our readers, Kevin Minshell, after I had recently written a column about how the 2001 draft was still haunting the Packers, more so than any other. What's interesting in Attner's account is that no mention is made of defensive tackle Marcus Stroud, who would have been an ideal pick there, and that the Packers' top two targets in the first round, Reynolds and Koren Robinson, both have been busts to this point.
Here's what Attner wrote:
"Wolf and Sherman were pretty confident that their first-round target - pass-rushing end Jamal Reynolds of Florida State - would still be around when they picked 10th in the first round. But that meant they needed to fix their other major need, receiver, in the second. And they were convinced that Robert Ferguson of Texas A&M would be gone by their present turn in that round. A trade with (Bill) Walsh would move them up six spots in the second, from 16 to 10, and from 18 to 9 in the third, and add a high fourth, where they currently had no choice. It meant giving up one of their three third-round picks in what became a five-for-three transaction. But Wolf knew Sherman, who was having trouble sleeping, would be buoyed by the positives of the deal.
"So four phone calls later, Walsh and Wolf agreed to agree. 'This could do it,' Sherman said to Wolf. Later that night at dinner, Wolf reviewed the 88th trade of his 10 years in Green Bay. 'In order for this to work, we've got to have both Reynolds and Ferguson,' he said. 'Otherwise, this might become the dumbest trade of my career. I could look like an idiot.'
"That would be a helluva way to go into retirement.
"In March, the Packers sent reserve quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to Seattle for an exchange of first-round choices and one of the Seahawks' third picks. The deal moved the Packers into the 10th spot of the opening round, assuring them of landing an impact player, a key aim of their draft strategy. The Seahawks dealt exclusively with Sherman, who would then talk to Wolf. The two men chuckled about how quickly things were changing.
"Now the 49ers deal has bolstered their spirits, and Wolf enters Saturday in a chipper mood. He had slept well the night before, and walked for an hour earlier in the morning. The draft room itself seems normal; it is filled with scouts, coaches, team executives and some members of the club's Executive Committee. Wolf thrives best in a casual atmosphere, with people moving in and out of the room, where he can joke and keep up a constant banter.
"As their first selection draws near, the room becomes quiet. The previous day, Wolf and Sherman had discussed strategy for three hours. Sherman had brought a laminated sheet, filled with 13 possible scenarios the Packers could face when their pick arrived. He had already checked off who he would select in each case. Now he wanted Wolfs thinking. They agreed every time. They expected either Reynolds or receiver Koren Robinson to be available. If both were there, they would go with Reynolds because they needed defensive linemen. If neither was around, they would go with defensive end Andre Carter, then linebacker Dan Morgan. No arguments allowed in Wolf's draft room, not when all the decisionmaking is already final.
"'Anyone nervous?' Wolf says after the fifth pick. 'I'm getting nervous. Isn't this exciting?' Gradually, a knot is growing in his stomach, just as it had done in 38 previous years. The knot increases when the 49ers trade with Seattle to get the draft's seventh pick. San Francisco needs a defensive lineman; maybe that means Reynolds. Instead, the 49ers go with Carter. When the Bears choose receiver David Terrell at eight, Wolf is ecstatic. 'We got one,' he says. Reynolds and Robinson are still on the board.
"The Seahawks, picking next, select Robinson. The Packers already are calling Reynolds. 'We are considering taking you as our first pick; do you think it is a good one?' Sherman says to him. Reynolds tells him yes. 'I thought so,' says Sherman. Laughter fills the draft room.
"Wolf jokingly asks Reggie McKenzie, his director of pro personnel, if Reynolds has two arms and two legs. McKenzie, straight-faced, assures him he does. He soon tells scouting coordinator Danny Mock to give Reynolds' name to the Packers' draft liaison in New York.
"When (Paul) Tagliabue makes the announcement, everyone in the room breaks into sustained applause. Wolf smiles.
"Before the second-round pick, Edie sits with him in the draft room. They usually eat dinner together at the end of the draft, as they will do this year, but she double dips with a first-day session. It is a family affair; son Eliot, a college freshman and aspiring general manager, places names on the team-by-team draft board. Edie brings him good luck. Ferguson is still available when the Packers' turn comes. Sherman and Wolf nod at each other. Wolf isn't an idiot after all.
"Sherman, just two years removed from being an assistant coach, has spent the past seven weeks getting a crash course in drafting from Wolf. Sherman would make notes and then enter them in a journal. 'Wolfisms,' he calls them. 'What better resource can I ask for than to have this man?' he says. 'He has developed a Packer Way. We grind out the draft, evaluating and then reevaluating. And he involves everyone, coaches and scouts. We'd like to keep the model going.' Wolf will be a consultant for three years; Sherman says he will call on him often.
"'It is amazing when it works, isn't it?' says Wolf after the first day. He's convinced Reynolds will be an immediate starter; Ferguson also should be one within a season. They later grab two project-type players in the third round, cornerback Bhawoh Jue and linebacker Torrance Marshall, then begin the second day by selecting guard Bill Ferrario of Wisconsin in the fourth. Wolf spends Sunday morning fretting that he should have chosen Ferrario in the third, so he is relieved that he is still available. To take his mind off things, he sits in his office and watches a car race.
"At 2:12 p.m. Central time, the Packers' last selection of the draft, in the sixth round, is announced. It is a classic scouting pick-a sleeper, David Martin of Tennessee, a wide receiver Wolf believes can make it as a right end. 'He's one of those players you want because you want to show you can project someone's talent that others might miss,' says Wolf. Before the announcement is made in New York, the Packers' draft room fills in anticipation of the moment. Sustained cheers greet the choice of Martin, the final pick of Wolf's decade in Green Bay. The previous day, all the scouts and personnel staff had posed for group and individual pictures with him. Now someone yells, 'Speech, speech.'"