What is the absolute worst part of the year in football? The offseason. We have to fill our Sundays, Thursday nights, and Monday nights with other activities to occupy our time. We don't have new highlights to watch or new games to look forward to. Nothing to talk about but the past and speculation about what's to come a few months down the road. Sure, we have free agency and the draft, as well as a few weeks of OTAs to occupy our brains, but that still kind of falls under the category of speculation or prediction. We need the real thing, and we need it fast.
As you can imagine, the offseason takes a toll on your favorite football writers and podcasters as well. Like what was said earlier, free agency and the draft certainly provide a lot of content and anticipation, but sometimes, there's only so much you can do in that realm. Everybody has their opinions on who the Packers signed and who the Packers drafted or didn't. Getting your opinion to stick out from the rest of the pack can often seem impossible. But one thing is for sure, fans can't seem to get enough of it. Everybody wants to hear about those exciting possibilities. What happens, though, when that dead horse has been resurrected as many times as it can be? What happens when you've published all your opinions on new players, coaches, or schemes, and there's nothing left?
More often than not, this happens to everyone in the time between OTAs and Training Camp. There's just nothing to talk about. We're all eager for the season to start, so no one wants to hear any more anticipation; they want to see it happen. We're currently in that purgatory. And you know what tends to come out of this football purgatory?
Complete, utter nonsense.
Oh yes, now is the time when we look at the headlines coming out and think, "football needs to start, now." Top 10, top 20, and top 100 lists are churning out by the dozens. What does it all mean? Absolutely nothing. Rankings are being published by the hundreds, and they're all completely senseless. The only point many of them could have is to show whether players or a team performed above or below expectations. More often than not, though, these are all in fun and should just be taken with a grain of salt.
The worst headlines that come out this time of year are the false rumors.
Don't give in to the nonsense.
Perhaps one of the worst little rumors to come out of this time of year to this point is that of a gambling/football news site claiming that there is concern about Jordan Love entering training camp "unfocused." I'm withholding the name of the site in an effort not to give them the full attention they seek. They posted four days ago that Jordan Love is vacationing currently instead of prepping for training camp. They used a TikTok video posted by Jordan Love's wife, Ronika, of the two dancing next to the ocean, as their "evidence."
For those of you who may not know, QB1 was married to his long-time girlfriend on June 29th. The video was posted the following weekend. Now tell me, what do many newlyweds do after they get married? You guessed it! They go on their honeymoon. And what is one of the rare times of the year that an NFL player can take a few weeks for themselves without team obligations? The time in between OTAs and Training Camp. Call me crazy, but I think Jordan Love is choosing to spend at least a week or so of his final time off before the season begins with his new wife.
We've seen clips of Love working out this offseason and seemingly "locking in" already. Many reporters made sure to comment that Love looked sharp and efficient during OTAs, so I don't think we have any cause for concern here. What we're seeing is a news outlet with nothing to talk about during this football purgatory, so they're making stuff up.
If there's one thing we've learned over the years about 1265 Lombardi Ave, it's that most of what coaches and front office members are thinking is kept locked and sealed behind closed doors. If there's cause for concern about Jordan Love not preparing for the 2025 season, it's going to come straight from Matt LaFleur or Brian Gutekunst one way or another. Not from a news outlet with little to no credibility.
But that's exactly what we get this time of year, folks. Desperate attempts at relevant headlines. Don't give in to them. Chances are, what you see on Facebook from "Diehard Packers Lover 24/7" or on X from "@Ted736483638" isn't true unless they're regurgitating information from someone else. The season can't come soon enough so that these obvious false rumors can take a back seat to some real football headlines.
Bring on Training Camp.