Driver Just Retired on Mike and Mike

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Quotes from around the NFL on Donald Driver's retirement
packers.com

“Donald was a tremendous player. He overcame great odds to make the team when he first joined us and, as has been well documented, extreme challenges while he was growing up. He was dependable and productive for the Packers. Even though some of the big plays we had together come to mind – on Monday night in Champaign, against the Giants in the playoffs – it really is the way he could make guys miss that stands out to me, like the long touchdown he had just before halftime in Minnesota (in 2006). He also was a big reason we won the division at the Metrodome in ’04. I have great memories of playing with Donald. He was a great teammate – he was very likeable in the locker room. That he could go from a seventh-round draft choice to the Packers’ all-time leading receiver is a real tribute to him.”
- Packers QB Brett Favre (1992-2007)

“It makes me really happy to know that Donald Driver is retiring as a Packer. Throughout my career, Donald has been an incredible player and teammate whose durability and productivity speak for themselves. He was a huge part of helping me establish myself as a starter in this league and I’ll always appreciate his encouragement and support during that time. I’ll remember all the great plays he made in our time together, including the long touchdown against San Francisco in 2010 that is still one of the most remarkable plays I’ve ever seen. He was one of the guys I was most happy for at the end of that season, because he had waited his whole career to get to the Super Bowl and win a ring. But more than any of those things, I’ll remember the attitude and professionalism that he carried himself with, especially in his approach to practice every day. I could count on one hand the number of practices he missed in my career, and his enthusiasm for the game always had such a positive impact on the rest of us. Donald was an awesome player, and an even better person who set a great example for giving back to the community. I wish him the best in his next chapter and feel lucky that I got to share part of my career as his teammate.”
- Packers QB Aaron Rodgers

“Donald is a special person and a good friend. I was privileged to line up on the other side of him each day in practice for many years, and he was a great competitor who always kept me on my toes. What he was able to accomplish in 14 seasons is truly remarkable. He is one of the most dedicated, thoughtful individuals I’ve ever met and I want to congratulate him on an incredible career.”
- Chiefs assistant secondary coach Al Harris (Packers CB, 2003-09)

“I am proud to see my friend – who can play – make the decision to not play, and by doing so not diminish the picture that Green Bay fans have of him. He is and will always be the greatest wide receiver in the history of this great organization we know and love as the Green Bay Packers.”
- Packers WR Sterling Sharpe (1988-94)

“He is a very special individual. It is rare in this game of professional football to come across a player whose dedication to the game and to the Green Bay Packers was always first and foremost in his individual makeup. I know that I receive the credit for his being with the Packers, but the person who deserves it is Alonzo Highsmith. He was so high on Donald and kept bringing his name up each and every round of the draft that year. Donald was a rare player. When you think of all the great receivers that have played for the Packers, those magical names like Hutson, Lofton, Sharpe, and Howton, there is only one who is the all-time leader in receptions and he is a seventh-round draft choice from Alcorn State University. That speaks volumes for his approach to this, the greatest game in American sports. He was a tough, hard-nosed individual who would go anywhere on the field in order to catch the football. He had the desire to excel, the ability to make it happen and the want to, to get it done. I personally am very proud of what Donald Driver has accomplished. He is a beacon for all those who want to because he did. Congratulations on a great career, Mr. Driver. I wish I would be present to say this to you personally: You are what the Packers are all about! All the best in the years ahead, No. 80, you did it.”
- Ron Wolf, Packers general manager, 1992-2000

“I think the first time I met Donald Driver was in April 1999. It was my first year scouting and Ron (Wolf) told me to go to Alcorn State, and I had no clue where Alcorn State was. From the immediate start, Donald Driver jumped out. He was enthusiastic, he was eager to go and I was impressed with his workout. I started talking to him more and I found out about some of his situations in life growing up and after that, I said, ‘This kid is going to make it somewhere.’ I didn’t know how or where or what team he’d do it with, but I knew he was going to make it. The person that came to mind that he reminded me of was my former college teammate, Michael Irvin. He reminded me of Michael, not in the football part, but just in the determination and in the will to succeed and to overcome all odds, and I was impressed with him for that. I remember he came over to my car and said, ‘Hey, I’m telling you, if you pick me, you won’t be sorry.’ Then when I came back to Green Bay for the April meetings, I said to Ron, ‘I think we need to really look at this kid.’ So I put a tape in and the first play, he caught a bomb right off the bat and it caught Ron’s attention. So based on what I’d recommended to Ron and what the Packers were looking for in receivers, Ron decided we were going to take a chance and draft this kid in the seventh round. The evolution of where he has come in his career has been fascinating, because I don’t think anybody gave him a chance to be a real guy. And 14 years later, he is the all-time leading receiver in the history of the franchise. But I don’t look at success in football as statistics alone; the thing I am most proud of Donald Driver for is the man he has become. He is a great father and husband, he has done so much in the community and that’s what I’m most proud of. He is somebody I would tell my children to emulate. Donald Driver exemplifies what I always tell my kids, ‘I want you to be known as a better person than football player.’ It certainly has been one of the highlights of my personnel career, and even though I’ve been fortunate to be around great players for most of my life, still nothing excites me more than to see guys succeed. And to succeed off the field more than on the field, that is even more impressive, and that’s what this guy did. In the end, he won, and I’ve always said that. When you come in as a seventh-round draft pick and you play 14 years, you won the game, you’ve defied all odds.”
- Packers senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith

“Donald Driver had the winning combination of talent and character … plus it didn’t hurt that he married a great wife in Betina. She has kept him humble and on the straight and narrow. As great a player as he was, he was an even better teammate and person. Although I always felt Driver’s passion and work ethic made him unique, I do believe it was his consistency that stands out the most to me. Every day he was the same – same smile, enthusiasm, teammate, husband, father, man. I never – not once – saw him waver from who he was or what he was about.”
- Dolphins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman (Packers head coach, 2000-05)

“To me Donald was a quintessential Packer. He had class, he had dignity, he had manners, he cared about people, he helped with a lot of charitable things, and he was just an absolute ballet dancer on the football field. I used to love to watch him tip-toe down the sidelines and catch that ball and tip-toe and fall into the end zone. He had great hands and a great heart. I hate to see him retire, but I know he has to and we all do at some point or another. I’m glad to have him as an alumnus now. I think he’ll be a great addition to our alumni group and I think he’ll bleed Green and Gold forever.”
- Packers G Jerry Kramer (1958-68)

“A few things come to mind when I think about Donald. The first is the way he grew up and the hardships he had to endure early on in his life. Second is that he is one of the toughest competitors I have ever been around. And the third is how much the Green Bay community meant to him and how much he meant to Green Bay. With that said, I’ll sum Donald up in three words: warrior, champion, friend!
- Packers DB Charles Woodson
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Originally posted by ChilliJon:
I thought DD's comments about legacy and retiring a Packer weren't just directed at Bert but may have also been a subtle message to Greg Jennings.

Don't be in such a big hurry to get out of town Greg.

The organization did a great job honoring everything he meant to Green Bay today.

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Originally posted by Pikes Peak:
Whatever happened to the "Do not wear white after Labor Day rule"?

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"Twelve years ago, I signed my first big contract for the Green Bay Packers and I promised you all that I would never wear another uniform. So today, we make that official. I keep my promise to you. The loyalty you all have instilled in me and my family, I have to keep my loyalty to you and not play for another team and to retire in the green and gold." - Donald Driver

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Originally posted by ChilliJon:
GB never made him an offer. IMO GJ made it clear he wanted to go elsewhere.

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Originally posted by ChilliJon:
Greg was the guy that didn't want to talk contract then went on a "my gut tells me I won't be in GB" PR campaign. Then put his house on the market. Then went public that he'd love to join up with Philbin in Miami.

GB never made him an offer. IMO GJ made it clear he wanted to go elsewhere.

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Originally posted by Orlando Wolf:
Why DD is the man...

http://www.jsonline.com/multim...hotos/208381331.html

No sign of Tavis or Chilli.