Re-Casting ‘The Office’ with the Green Bay Packers

On Thursday, Packers MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers will appear on the second-to-last episode of the NBC primetime comedy “The Office” (9/8c). Since I’m pretty excited about his appearance, and since “The Office” is ending its nine-season run on May 16, I wondered what it would be like if NBC decided to

Aaron Rodgers

reboot the sit-com … featuring only members of the Green Bay Packers.

Without further ado …

Aaron Rodgers as Jim Halpert (played by John Krasinski): Always calm and cool, nothing flusters Rodgers or Jim. Plus Rodgers’ role as a bit of a prankster fits with Jim’s personality quite seamlessly.

Jermichael Finley

Jermichael Finley as Dwight Schrute (played by Rainn Wilson): Forehead jokes aside, Finley and Dwight have more in common than you think. They both are dedicated to their jobs but tend to make big mistakes from time-to-time – Finley with his key drops, Dwight with accidentally firing a gun at work. And Finley’s constant complaints about not having chemistry with Rodgers certainly goes hand-in-hand Dwight’s inability to get along with Jim at Dunder-Mifflin.

Clay Matthews as Ryan Howard (played by B.J. Novak): Since both Matthews and Ryan consider personal appearance a priority (Matthews stars in shampoo ads, Ryan once paid $200 for a haircut), this is a no-brainer. And much like Ryan is always trying to fend off quasi-girlfriend Kelly  Kapoor, Matthews must ignore dozens of marriage proposals at every game in Lambeau.

Ryan Pickett as Stanley Hudson (played by Leslie David Baker): Stanley has been doing (and excelling) at the same job nearly longer than any of his

Ryan Pickett

fellow co-workers. His work is always under-appreciated and his routine is what makes him so valuable to the Scranton dynamic. Does that sound like any 13-year veteran 3-4 defensive ends you know?

Evan Dietrich-Smith as Kevin Malone (played by Brian Baumgartner): Kevin and Dietrich-Smith take a lot of criticism. When anyone in the office has an accounting question, he or she always seeks out Oscar or Angela, ignoring Kevin. Up until this year, Dietrich-Smith was always good enough to be on the team. But many offensive line problems were always blamed for his presence in the line-up because he was never perceived as good as the player he replaced.

Clay Matthews and Kevin Greene

Kevin Greene as Creed Bratton (played by Creed Bratton): Since every workplace needs a weird old guy, Greene is more of a best-of-a-bad group. Greene is probably more eclectic than old, having appeared on TV shows like Wheel of Fortune and Pros Vs. Joes. But if someone told you Creed had a brief foray into pro wrestling and was also a U.S. Army paratrooper like Greene, would you be surprised? Neither would I.

James Jones as Andy Bernard (played by Ed Helms): The lovable, flawed Andy character is personified in James Jones. Jones, who arrived in Green Bay with all the talent in the world coming out of San Jose State. But just like Andy, Jones struggled to carve a niche in the passing attack in Green Bay. Andy’s sales were so bad, he was relegated to making cold calls with Pam. Jones’ free agent market was so bad, that he ended up signing a below market deal in Green Bay. But when push came to shove, it was Andy who was named branch manager after Michael’s departure. And it was Jones who led the NFL in touchdown receptions when Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson couldn’t stay healthy. What a couple of redemption stories.

B.J. Raji as Darryl Philbin (played by Craig Robinson): Raji and Darryl are the unsung heroes of the workplace. Whether it’s taking on double teams in the trenches or coordinating shipments that former branch manager Michael Scott botched from the get-go, both of these guys are instrumental to the success of their teams. Everything falls apart without them.

Ted Thompson as Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell): Certainly I’m not calling Thompson a bumbling general manager, but his and Michael’s stories are similar. Both had high images of themselves in wanting to do things their way when they started. Fans crushed Thompson every year for never signing big name free agents despite having the money. And Micheal’s employees were ready to wring his neck in how he handled his sales team upon selling The Micheal Scott Paper Company to Dunder-Mifflin and returning to his post as manager (much like how Thompson polarized Green Bay in handling the Brett Favre situation).

But in the end, both were loved because of the special interest Michael took in each of his employees and Thompson for bringing the Lombardi trophy back to Packers News.