Football strategies weren’t the only thing Green Bay cooked this offseason. The locker room held the utmost importance; as a result, a leadership council was formed this Summer. For months, Matt LaFleur was building up the idea of the Packers having season-long captains in 2025. Players “wanted to vote for it,” said the head coach. Finally, on Wednesday, seven captains were announced. Shortly afterwards, Packers’ young leader Jordan Love stepped squarely into the spotlight as the voice of the locker room.

It was the year 2022, when the Packers had players with the “C” patch imprinted on their jerseys for the entire season. The following two years, LaFleur changed his approach and rotated captains for each game. Though the head coach didn’t explicitly state the reason, many believe it stemmed from controversies involving Za’Darius Smith and Jaire Alexander. In 2021, Smith made quite the headlines for feeling insulted for not being named the season-long captain. Alexander got suspended for a game for going for a coin toss against the Panthers in 2023 despite not being a captain. 

Players finally won over LaFleur this season. “You’ve got to set the standards and uphold the standard from everybody else,” he told the captains this year. And quarterback Love heard him loud and clear. Addressing the media about the announcement, he chose to appreciate the other six captains. “Those other guys voted captain have done a great job putting in a little bit extra work, trying to step up as leaders on their team,” he told the reporters.

As for the HC himself, LaFleur emphasized the responsibility that accompanies this title. “It’s one of those things you’ve got to keep showing up and earning every day,” he added. It’s a title Love earned after five years. While he spent three seasons sitting behind Aaron Rodgers, he proved to be a “love affair” for The Pack once given the reins, as fans called it. Of course, the ‘Super Bowl champ’ title comes above all, Love still admitted, “it’s a cool kind of side thing to have [C] say on your chest.”

Besides Love, the other captains are Josh Jacobs, Tucker Kraft, Quay Walker, Rashan Gary, Isaiah McDuffie, and Xavier McKinney. While Love highlighted the leadership aspect with the Captain title, star defensive tackle Gary gave an unfiltered reaction. “Man, it’s a blessing and honor, shoot a privilege,” he told the media. “It’s something I’ve always dreamed of, something I prayed for. It’s something I won’t take for granted.” 

There appears to be a name missing, right? Yes, it’s Micah Parsons, coming off an impressive debut with 29 snaps. While he is undeniably a huge addition to the Bays’ defense, it hasn’t even been a month since he joined the locker room. The voting for captaincy is directly proportional to locker room presence, which the star edge rusher has yet to build. 

Micah Parsons debuts with a Sack

Now let’s talk about that famous debut. Adding one of the best defensive arms in the active lineup, the Packers flaunted their now-heightened chances of triumphing at the Big Game. Winning at 27-13, they started the season with a statement victory. Besides those 29 snaps, Parsons logged a sack and pressured Jared Goff on three occasions, one of which resulted in an interception. 

Head coach LaFleur, who at first couldn’t believe that his team had acquired the four-time Pro Bowler, had the best reaction to it. Revealing Parsons exceeded all expectations, he jokingly said he’d probably “investigate” how exactly the 26-year-old performed so well. “It looked like a speed of light or a shooting star just coming out of the sky and closing ground fast,” LaFleur added. “I don’t know if I’ve heard our crowd much louder than when they introduced him, and certainly on that sack. He definitely has an aura about him.”

After defeating the team Jeff Hafley believes was “one of the best teams in the NFL” last year, he, too, showered high praise on Parsons, calling his football IQ “incredible.” Parsons came to the Bays just 10 days before Week 1, but still, defensive coordinator Hafley had all kinds of plays drawn for Parsons. Of course, they didn’t use many of them due to gridiron being “situational football,” the pass rusher knows he’ll probably get to execute Hafley’s plans in Week 2 against Jayden Daniels-led Commanders.