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Eddie Lacy: Scouts questioned my passion for football

Once expected to be the first running back off the board, Eddie Lacy slid to the Green Bay Packers late in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft due to concerns about his surgically repaired toe.

As it turns out, the toe wasn't the only red flag on Lacy. The running back acknowledged to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that many scouts questioned his love for football, which Lacy calls "the childhood game."

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Asked if football has ever brought him true joy, Lacy replied, "It has its moments, I guess you could say. It was a lot better for me (in Gretna, La.), though. Football is not what it was to me in high school now."

Lacy admits to feeling depressed "here and there" ever since Hurricane Katrina drove his family from their home in 2005. The incident clearly still haunts him, perhaps to the point that it diminishes his affinity for football.

That lack of passion will become an issue if Lacy arrives to training camp out of shape. After being knocked for poor work habits leading up to the draft, he packed on nearly 10 pounds by spring practices. Lacy might need a wake-up call to beat out four other running backs for the Packers' starting job this summer.

Follow Chris Wesseling on Twitter @ChrisWesseling.