The Green Bay Packers organization is cloaked in history more than any other NFL franchise.
Lambeau Field is sacred NFL ground. A museum sits on the site to commemorate the legendary players. The freaking Super Bowl trophy is named for one of their coaches.
Everything the Packers do is compared to history, whether recent or ancient.
New coach Matt LaFleur respects that dynamic but is focused on the future, not the past.
"When you come to the Green Bay Packers, obviously, you respect the tradition, the history, but, for us and this football team, it's about making history," LaFleur said Tuesday, via the Associated Press. "We'll always pay credit and respect to what's been done here in the past, but it's moving forward. And the expectation level is always going to be great in this organization, as it should be, and that's really the vibe and what I want our guys to focus on."
Moving forward from the Mike McCarthy era. Moving forward from past generations. Moving forward with a new offensive plan.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he appreciates the new coach's well-defined approach.
"I think the great thing about Matt is it's been very clear messaging," Rodgers said. "He's been great in front of the room. It's a forward focus. It's about building today for a better tomorrow. He's done a great job of talking about how the most important thing is us moving forward together and having a deference and appreciation for the past.
"But, you know, it's not like we haven't won a Super Bowl in a while, so that's the goal, and it's about doing things with this team right now. I mean, it's Green Bay. The history and tradition of excellence so nobody has a problem with the past or bashing the past or offending anybody from the past. But we want to do something special moving forward."
Moving forward from an offense that became stale to one that the franchise hopes will be more in line with what much of the rest of the NFL employs in 2019 was a key reason the Packers hired LaFleur. Thus far, Rodgers loves what he's seen in the shell of a playbook LaFleur passed out thus far.
"I think what every coach will do in this situation -- and it happens whether you're putting in new plays with the same system or when it's wholesale changes -- the clips that we're seeing of this offense are big plays," Rodgers said.
"They're showing us these plays and Julio Jones is] running 80 for a touchdown or hitting Santana Moss or [DeSean Jackson for big plays. Those are exciting. You look at those and go, 'Man, this offense is incredible.' It's obviously cherry-picked to look as good as possible. The plays look great on the film. It's going to be incorporating them with the guys that we have and finding who those guys are who run those plays best and putting our best players in position to make an impact in the game."
If the offense moves forward, perhaps LaFleur, Rodgers and the rest of the Packers will be making more history in Green Bay in January.
