Choosing to Support Letroy Guion

Recently, Michael Cohen and John Diedrich of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel produced an article on their findings and research of Packers Defensive tackle, Letroy Guion and his off the field issues. Growing up in the state of Florida, Cohen and Diedrich give us an eye opening understanding of Guion’s troubled past and what life was like for him growing up. Sitting down and thoroughly reading Cohen and Diedrich’s article, I was also troubled by the findings of Guion’s past and his issues off the field.

Although many fans are aware of Guion being arrested in February for possession of a large amount of Marijuana, firearms, and cash, Cohen and Diedrich give us an insight on Guion’s other instances while he was a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

A fifth round pick of the Vikings in 2008, Guion has had multiple domestic violence altercations stemming back as early as 2011.

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There are multiple thoughts that come into your head as a passionate fan of this organization. With the historic pedigree the Green Bay Packers organization carries, off the field instances such as these are heavily frowned upon. Fans calling Guion names, while also giving their own take on his situation has been common ever since the arrest was made public.

What fans are failing to grasp, and what Cohen and Diedrich’s article did a good job of explaining, was Guion’s troubled upbringing and how he has still been able to direct himself into the NFL. Cohen and Diedrich explain that Guion was the patriarch of his family at around age 15, and it is insight like this that helps explain the overall individual that Letroy Guion truly is.

The article is beginning to cause some controversy around the Packers organization, and head coach Mike McCarthy responded today in a press conference.

"First of all, I’m not going to react to the article. I thought it was garbage. The fact of the matter is we take a lot of pride in our program here. We have a lot of guys who make mistakes, there have been second chances. There’s a thorough process that goes on continuously We’re all being evaluated. We all have bosses, but this program is something that’s been built over 10 years here. I personally take a lot of pride in the program. Unfortunately, we’ll have someone that’s probably going to make a mistake in the future. We’ll evaluate it and move forward."

Whether this situation looks bad on the Packers organization and Guion himself, that’s not for me to say. I thought the article did do a good job of giving us an understanding of who the individual, Letroy Guion, truly is and what has caused him to make some of the decision’s he has made. Fans who have chosen to speak about Guion in a negative way, now have an understanding of his dark past and history. Guion has seemingly experienced truly dark times in his past, that the average individual would not be able to fully relate to.

Despite the arrest, the Packers did decide to give Guion a one year contract worth up to 2.475 million dollars this off-season, which shows the organization likes him and what he brings to the table as a player.

Last season, Guion replaced an injured B.J. Raji on the defensive line and played well, receiving much praise from the coaching staff.

McCarthy had this to say at the NFL combine last year:

"“He was an impactful personality and played good football for us,” McCarthy said at the scouting combine in February. “I’m hopeful, if we get past this and the monitoring gives us the green light to go forward, I’d love to have Letroy back.”"

While there has been much speculation as to the recent findings, the one goal of a Super Bowl Championship remains intact. Like him or not, Guion is a piece to the championship puzzle, and could be the impact player McCarthy sees the rest of the season.

As a follower of this team, you can diagnosis and dissect this story all you want. The fact of the matter is, there is still football to be played and a championship to win. Although the recent findings may seem troublesome, the focus of the organization is still to brings home that championship. As someone who has full trust in this organization, bringing Guion back seems to be the smart decision, as he has already regained his momentum from last season after already serving a three game suspension.

You can read the full story from Micheal Cohen and John Diedrich here.

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