Today’s posting is about the surprise announcement today that previously-thought-to-be-retiring Packers’ President Bob Harlan will stay on past his retirement deadline of the end of this month. The reason being that his hand-picked successor, John Jones, will be taking a leave of absence. For anyone who follows the inner workings of the Packers front office (anyone besides me?), this is a major announcement... one that could affect the operations and success of the team for years to come.
According to the Associated Press, Jones will be taking “an indefinite leave of absence from the team because of "management concerns." Jones had open heart surgery last year, and has been observed previously as not really being strong enough to take over the reigns from Harlan. The “management concerns” are what concern me as well.
Also from the AP, “In a hastily arranged news conference, Packers executive committee member Peter Platten said he could not provide specifics about the nature of the concerns. But I will tell you that they did not involve personal conduct or ethical violations," Platten said.”
I would assume logically then that the problem might lie with concerns about his health. The Packers would not comment on this, however.
If the problems have something to do with the Board of Directors not having confidence with Jones taking over from Harlan as we got down to the wire, then we have big problems on our hands. Harlan picked and groomed Jones to take over the presidency upon Harlan's turning 70 years old, at which point he must retire, according to the Packers’ corporation by-laws. If for some reason it was decided behind closed doors that “they” think Jones is not “the man,” where do they go from here?
The president of the Green Bay Packers acts in the same manner that owners of other teams do, as far as running the team, attending league meetings, etc. Bob Harlan was a master at the job, and was almost universally well-liked in both Green Bay and throughout the League. If we are now at the point of picking a new person after spending several years grooming Jones, we’re in trouble. Bringing someone in from “the outside” with no working knowledge of what being in Green Bay means will bring many interesting issues in the future.
I guess we’ll just have to wait to see what else comes out information-wise about this whole issue. I just find the timing of it very, very interesting... and troubling.
