Nice article by Wilde. "We're here for a reason."
Not surprised one bit. McCarthy is a hell of a good man.
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Great great story cuqui. Thanks so much for posting link.
Between McCarthy and Rodgers (and after Holmgren and Favre and their egos) could the future of this team be in any better hands? great men AND football? Lombardi has to be smiling. God, family, and the Geeen Bay Packers.
In a business corrupted by cheating, egos, and greed, Mike McCarthy is a refreshing change of pace. The Green Bay Packers are lucky to have a such a mature and humble man as their coach, and his children are even luckier to have him as a father.
quote:Originally posted by Music City:
Between McCarthy and Rodgers (and after Holmgren and Favre and their egos) could the future of this team be in any better hands? great men AND football? Lombardi has to be smiling. God, family, and the Geeen Bay Packers.
We still have TT and his ego.
Wow...this is a great story. Thanks MM for being Packer People. 
I can't pull up the story. Somehow I get diverted to a useless web site. Even when I go to the espn-milwaukee web site and click on the story, I get diverted. So I don't know what is going on and I don't know what MM did, but as a hear what is happening in other places in the NFL and sports in general, I am happy we have the leadership and players we do have.
I don't know how how much is acceptable to re-post here, GoL, but I'll include the most pertinent information.
(My personal preface/comments here) The story begins with a very emotional personal story relating how MM and other old friends had to deal with the death of a school friend/team mate. This set the roots of what he'd ultimately like his legacy to be:
These snips don't really do justice to the entire story, GoL; keep trying to get to it if you can. It's a powerful read and well worth the time.
(My personal preface/comments here) The story begins with a very emotional personal story relating how MM and other old friends had to deal with the death of a school friend/team mate. This set the roots of what he'd ultimately like his legacy to be:
quote:...Three years ago, he and Jessica started looking for a charitable endeavor they could call their own. McCarthy was already involved in a variety of charities – from several in his Greenfield neighborhood and St. Rosalia’s, to his college alma mater Baker University and the Boys & Girls Club of Green Bay, to the Autism Society of Northeast Wisconsin and the Green Bay-based Seven Loaves project, which builds bakeries in Rwanda – as well as the various charitable commitments that come with being the Packers’ head coach. He and Jessica also started the McCarthy Family Foundation in the last year.
But they wanted what McCarthy called a “family legacy charity event,” and a friend suggested UW Health’s American Family Children’s Hospital.
The idea made sense on paper. As parents, they hadn’t faced in their blended family – daughter Alex, sons Jack and George and daughters Gabrielle and Isabella – the health challenges that Tim Kelley’s mom and dad did, but they wanted their work to involve children, be vital to the state of Wisconsin, and have far-reaching connections.
The hospital, which originally opened in 1920 and moved to its state-of-the-art facility in 2007, is a 62-bed medical and surgical center which annually admits 2,600 inpatients and handles 107,000 outpatient visits from children around the state and across the country. UW pediatricians are nationally and internationally known for their clinical research, specifically in the areas of childhood cancer, pulmonology, juvenile diabetes, genetics, transplantation and asthma.
“So we went down there, spent the day,” McCarthy said. “We walked in, saw the facility, and I was kind of taken aback. The whole layout – just how practical and functional it was – you just say, ‘Boy, they got this right.’
“Then we met with some of the patients and their families. And I think you know me well enough now – I couldn’t even talk. It was, ‘Sign us up. What can we do?’ That’s really how it started.” ...
...“God willing, I’ll continue to have success here (with the Packers) and we can really make an impact,” said the 48-year-old McCarthy, who is also part of the hospital’s “Sick Kids Can’t Wait” campaign, joining UW coaches and supermodel Cindy Crawford, among others. “Hopefully our children will take it over some day.”
Dr. Ellen Wald, who chairs UW’s Department of Pediatrics, isn’t the type to be impressed by football coaches, even ones who tour the hospital with the Vince Lombardi Trophy from Super Bowl XLV, like McCarthy did last year. She spent 27 years at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh before coming to Madison, so she not only gets the Steel City’s ethos, she’s also a Steelers fan.
“I met him at the event last year,” Wald said Friday afternoon. “When he’s visited, he’s visited with every single child. It’s not a perfunctory visit or two. He’s exceptionally committed to what’s going on.
“It’s tremendous. I feel like we’re incredibly fortunate because, you know Wisconsinites and their teams, they’re very rabid. Having the Green Bay Packers head coach is just extraordinary. It gets folks excited. Even those of us who are resistant to this type of larger-than-life celebrity, we can’t help but be swept up in it. It has a big, big impact.
“The kids all know. Having someone like him involved, caring about them, it means a lot to them. It’s extremely meaningful. Not to mention, there’s a great hospital in Milwaukee (Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin), and he chose us. That means a lot.” ...
These snips don't really do justice to the entire story, GoL; keep trying to get to it if you can. It's a powerful read and well worth the time.
I've always liked Mike McCarthy the man. He gets it. Great story!
We are lucky indeed to have him leading our franchise.
We are lucky indeed to have him leading our franchise.
Don Banks at SI is piggy-backing on that article with one of his own on MM, including his charity work but also some football comments. Find it here: Packers' McCarthy building legacy on the field, in the community
One snippet: "Getting into the mindset that you're one or two players away is foolishness," he said. "This is the ultimate team game, and rosters change every single year. You just have to get as many quality players as you possibly can and go from there. I understand where our statistics were on defense last year, but we won 15 games for a reason during the regular season.
"And this year, the most important people that will contribute, specifically early, in that opening four-game stretch, will be the guys who were here last year. The rookies are going to come on and help us out, but I think it's a (fallacy) to think that, 'Oh, we drafted six guys on defense with our first six picks and now we're okay on defense.' I don't believe that's the case. I think it's a little more competitive over there, and from that we're going to be a better defense."
That's what I like, the level-headed coach who doesn't pump up the fans or players beyond expectations. Keepin' it real. Packer People, for sure.
One snippet: "Getting into the mindset that you're one or two players away is foolishness," he said. "This is the ultimate team game, and rosters change every single year. You just have to get as many quality players as you possibly can and go from there. I understand where our statistics were on defense last year, but we won 15 games for a reason during the regular season.
"And this year, the most important people that will contribute, specifically early, in that opening four-game stretch, will be the guys who were here last year. The rookies are going to come on and help us out, but I think it's a (fallacy) to think that, 'Oh, we drafted six guys on defense with our first six picks and now we're okay on defense.' I don't believe that's the case. I think it's a little more competitive over there, and from that we're going to be a better defense."
That's what I like, the level-headed coach who doesn't pump up the fans or players beyond expectations. Keepin' it real. Packer People, for sure.
Timmy! & Fandame,
Thanks for posting the information. I now understand what everyone is talking about. Yes, MM is a great guy, and doing a wonderful thing. And I will keep trying to get to that article. I haven't tried it at work - so I will make that a priority tomorrow.
I do hope MM goes at least 13-3 this next year and pass up Holmy in the winning % in the process.
Thanks again.
Thanks for posting the information. I now understand what everyone is talking about. Yes, MM is a great guy, and doing a wonderful thing. And I will keep trying to get to that article. I haven't tried it at work - so I will make that a priority tomorrow.
I do hope MM goes at least 13-3 this next year and pass up Holmy in the winning % in the process.
Thanks again.
