David Bakhtiari: I used “they” to refer to the Packers front office
When Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari referred to the team as “they” in a recent interview when discussing the team’s expected parting of the ways with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the “rebuilding” that accompanies such a move, PFT and others took note of that word choice while wondering what it might mean for Bakhtiari’s future with the team.
Bakhtiari returned to the topic during an appearance on the Open Mike podcast with Michael Silver. Silver asked Bakhtiari if there’s been any awkwardness as a result of that word choice. Bakhtiari said that there as been some and explained why he feels the use of “they” was misunderstood in his previous comments.
“‘They’ is the front office. I am not the front office,” Bakhtiari said. “Like I said before, when I act rationally and I take my emotions out and look from a business standpoint, I’m thinking from a third-person point of view. So it’s almost annoying the fact that I have to explain that. And that’s why I know I have Twitter and my ability to use my voice. So I’m like, by responding to any of this, it creates credibility and it makes it more real. When this is just people going off on a tangent, nitpicking said words. For what? Again, I’m not a type of person that’s gonna assassinate my sentences so you can find a cryptic message I’m trying to find. If I felt like I wanted to dissociate, I would flat out say, ‘I’m gonna dissociate.’ And that’s pretty black and white. There’s no gray area with me. So, again, if I have to spell it out even further. ‘They’ means the front office of the Green Bay Packers.”
Bakhtiari restructured his contract with the team this offseason and said that he expects the team will cut or extend him in 2024 because of the looming cap charge for that year. In the interim, he’s part of this year’s team and repeated his belief that they are rebuilding.
“And that’s totally fine,” Bakhtiari said. “I’m not saying that we’re going to be bad. I’m not saying we’re going to be good. I don’t know and that’s the beauty. No one really knows how good they are. We start the season, everyone is batting 1.000. No one has any losses. No one has any wins. And let the season play out however it may be.”
This week’s draft is likely to be the moment when the Rodgers trade finally takes place and that will fully kick off the reconstruction of the Packers for the 2023 season.
David Bakhtiari: I used “they” to refer to the Packers front office originally appeared on Pro Football Talk
