Eight Million Reasons To Go To Houston » Brats & Beer

March 6, 2007
posted under: Ahman Green, Packers

For a lot of football franchises out there, losing a starting running back who has piled up 8,100 yards over seven seasons would bring some kind of wrathful vengeance down on the general manger who let that player go, either from the fans or the local media. But then this is why it’s good to be a Packer fan.

A look around Packer Nation sees a lot of people sort of disappointed Ahman Green decided to leave, but no one calling for Ted Thompson’s head for not writing a check big enough to have kept him. And that’s a reassuring sign. According to a poll in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, almost 70% of the readers agreed with TT’s decision not to enter a bidding war with the Texans over the nine-year veteran. (Ted had better know that 70% will turn on him in a heartbeat if he doesn’t find a suitable replacement, though.)

It’s also nice to see that most people aren’t holding a grudge against Green for taking the money when it was offered. There’s a goodly amount of respect for the job that Green did for the Packers and admiration for the quiet, workman-like attitude he had on the field. But there’s also a realization that this is how things work in the NFL, and when someone is foolish enough willing to offer a four-year, $23 million deal to a 30-year-old running back, he has to take it.

Judging by this blog on the Houston Chronicle site, the Houston fans seem generally pleased with getting Green, though that probably doesn’t make up for the Texans passing on Reggie Bush last year. But I wonder, though, how he’ll be treated during the season. A player like Ahman who has the potential for both greatness and disaster every time he touches the ball takes a special kind of understanding fan to forgive the occasional fumble for the fact that he can pile up +100 yards a game. But then watching your QB get sacked forty or fifty times a season can’t be all that much fun either.