Shareholders meeting: Packers recall a year of accomplishments, even if they missed the playoffs

GREEN BAY – Aaron Rodgers was mentioned at the Green Bay Packers shareholders meeting Monday. It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last, but for the first time in a long time, he wasn't the focus of the coming season.

When Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy mentioned Rodgers, there was a smattering of negative comments in an otherwise quiet audience, but when Murphy pushed back, pointing out that Rodgers was one of the greatest players in Packers' history and should be appreciated for that, he got applause from the assembled shareholders and their guests.

"No, Aaron was a great player for us for 18 years. He will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. We will bring him back and retire his number at the appropriate time," Murphy said.

Rodgers, four-time NFL MVP, was traded to the New York Jets in the offseason. Murphy said the Packers were excited to see how Jordan Love, the new starting quarterback would do this season.

He also mentioned, with what appeared to be a small degree of amusement, that the Jets would be on HBO's "Hard Knocks," a series that looks at teams that have had less successful years as they try to right their ships. The documentary style series is not something most teams want to be a part of.

"We are proud we have never been on 'Hard Knocks,' but by the way, the Jets will be on 'Hard Knocks.' I think we have eight former Packers on the Jets," Murphy said, which drew a collective chuckle from the crowd.

All of which is to say that while the Packers did a lot of things last year as an organization, they did not make the playoffs for the first time in four years and they are heading into a new season with new, untested quarterback in Love.

Murphy did go through a long list of accomplishments, including charitable fundraising, efforts to distribute AEDs throughout the community, diversity efforts, a game in London, and construction of a new football facility, new concession stands and the large new videoboards getting their first use on Monday.

Packers shareholders were pretty happy with the organization, despite last year's 8-9 record.

"They've made some smart business moves," said Jacob Alford, a shareholder from La Crosse, who mentioned specifically the construction of the atrium in 2003 and improvements since.

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Chuck McGuire of Onalaska last attended a shareholders meeting in 2011. "It's one of those things. Finally, I was like 'I have to go to one more,'" he said.

Terry Weiland of the village of Harrison said the Packers are keeping up with the rest of the league, which is key to remaining competitive. "I think they've done a good job," said Terry, who met his wife, Betty, at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Betty Weiland said she attended UW-Green Bay in part because of the Packers, and she got to interview Bart Starr at his home for a school project.

The Weilands became shareholders last year during the Packers' most recent stock sale. This was their first shareholders meeting.

Packers shareholders meetings are, after all, corporate business meetings, but with enough of a twist to bring some owners back more than once. Betty Weiland was excited to be among so many other Packers fans, which is one of the event's draws. Having it outdoors in Lambeau Field is another.

There is probably less football talk from Packers executives than shareholders would like. General manager Brian Gutekunst on Monday basically read the roster for his report, much in the spirit of his mentor, former GM Ted Thompson, who never revealed anything about football in these talks about the football team.

The Packers said 7,825 shareholders and guests attended the meeting, with another 1,200 shareholders watching a livestream of the event. A little more than 8,600 people attended last year's meeting. The Packers have 538,967 shareholders.

The weather Monday was better than expected. The sky was overcast for much of the meeting, which, along with a breeze, made the 79 degrees less uncomfortable than it could have been.

The Packers, who finished several major construction projects this year, including the building of $90 million worth of new offices for football staff and expanded practice space, will renovate the offices the coaches are moving out of after the end of next season. Murphy said the 20-year-old offices need updating. He said both the new office area for coaches and the remodeled area will have room for growth.

The new video boards, at 220 feet, are twice as wide as the previous boards and have higher fidelity, Murphy said.

He singled out Rob Davis, a former Packers player who is now director of organizational development & diversity, equity and inclusion, as a key hire this year. Murphy said a diversity, equity and inclusion emphasis was a high priority for the Packers and the NFL, where nearly 70% of players were black or mixed ethnicity in 2022.

Murphy also made a pitch for game day staff. Like many organizations, the Packers have been challenged to staff events. It's a sign of the depths of the problem that he mentioned it during the shareholders meeting.

Newly elected to the Packers board of directors were Pro Football and Packers Hall of Famer LeRoy Butler; Laurie Radke, president and CEO of the Greater Green Bay Chamber; Sachin Shivaram, CEO of Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry, a 115-year-old, family-owned company in Manitowoc; and Christopher Stiles, chairman, president and CEO of Morely-Murphy Co., a 119-year-old holding company in Green Bay whose interests include distributing generators and engines, real estate investments and a charitable foundation.

Leaving the board, and moving to emeritus status, are Jerry Ganoni, elected in 2013; Gary Rotherham, elected in 1999; Bobbi Webster, elected in 2020; and Mike Weller, elected in 2007. All will reach the retirement age of 70 this year.

Murphy also had good words for Vice President of Finance and Administration Paul Baniel, who will retire in October after 14 years with the Packers. Among other responsibilities, Baniel oversaw the team's checkbook and its investment approach.

"Paul just had a great run with us. He is an underappreciated hero with the organization," Murphy said.

The Packers reported a record $610 million in revenue for last season. It had profit from operations of $68.7 million and net income of $35.6 million. Player costs were $294.2 million, team expenses $61.5 million, both higher than the previous year, and total expenses were $541.6 million, $41 million more than the previous year. National revenue, which mostly comes from league media deals, was $374.4 million, exceeding player and team expenses by $18.7 million.

Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Packers shareholders meeting: Officials recall year of accomplishments