Packers Issue Statement Following Kenosha Shooting

"We are deeply troubled at what again has become a painful example of the significant challenges we face," the team said on Monday.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In a statement in the wake of a controversial shooting in Kenosha, the Green Bay Packers on Monday issued a statement calling for “meaningful dialogue” to bring about change.

“The Packers organization was shocked to see the video that showed police shooting Jacob Blake multiple times in the back. We are hopeful Jacob makes a full recovery, and our thoughts are with his family.

“While we understand a full investigation of this terrible incident will take place, we are deeply troubled at what again has become a painful example of the significant challenges we face with respect to police brutality, systemic racism and injustices against Black people. We continue to call for meaningful dialogue to affect the needed change we all desire.”

After Monday’s practice, coach Matt LaFleur huddled with his leadership council to explore what it could do to help bring societal change.

“We were brainstorming on what exactly are the next steps,” LaFleur said. “I’ll tell you what: You talk about a thoughtful group. I’m really proud of those guys that are on that group. You can tell it means something to these guys because this is real life. This is bigger than football. It’s awesome to know that we have some compassionate guys out there on this football team that care about each other but also they care about just what’s going on in society. They’re a bunch of selfless guys. I’m just really proud of that group and I’m excited to see what we can come up with as a group.”


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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.