B.J. Raji: The clock is running out on Green Bay Packers’ d-lineman
B.J. Raji, sometimes known to fans of the Green Bay Packers as “The Freezer,” is a noble man – more so than we may like.
But what he has done this past year has been unprecedented.
Raji was at the pinnacle of his career with the Green Bay Packers, one that was about to be extended with lots of zeroes on the bottom line of a new contract in the spring of 2106.
There were none more shocked than his agent, Brian Murphy.
In a story published earlier this spring by Rob Demovsky at ESPN, Murphy had this to say about what was happening at the time:
"“We were pretty fired up about the deal. We were calling B.J. to tell him about and it, he said, ‘This is probably a good time to tell you that I’m probably not going to play football.’ I thought he was kidding. And then he started telling me all the details and it made sense.”"
What made sense was that Raji was putting his family over the game. How can you blame him? His mother and his aunt had failing health and Raji wanted to help his father care for the women.
To this day, that hasn’t changed.
Mike McCarthy and other Packers personnel have been in touch with Raji, but it appears that he isn’t about to don the green and gold #90 anytime soon.
And the clock will continue to click.
Should Raji not have a change of heart – and do it soon – he won’t play in 2017, a fact that will most likely seal his fate of ever coming back to the Packers, or any other team for that matter.
Raji will turn 31 in July.
More from Murphy:
"“He wanted to take care of them, and I think that’s a tribute to him. That’s still where his focus is.”"
We couldn’t agree more.
But if there’s a time when a player of Raji’s rank could really help the team, it would be now.
Green Bay selected interior lineman Kenny Clark last year and he appears to be developing into a solid defense man.
But consider what the Packers would have with Clark, Raji and Letroy Guion (if he makes it through training camp without being cut).
Raji could be one of those rotational players who would be given opportunities to contribute.
Given the news, it won’t happen.
The Packers selected Raji with the ninth pick of the 2009 draft. In his career in Packers News, Raji appeared in 91 games, starting 78 of them.
During that time he recorded 11 sacks, had 104 tackles and 51 assists.
Consider also that he defensed 10 passes over the course of his six seasons – bringing to mind his most famous play – the pick-six he turned in against the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship Game. That play made Raji’s career – one that appears to be over.
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B.J. Raji’s career statistics, courtesy of profootballreference: