May 14, 2011 | Kareem Copeland | greenbaypressgazette.com
Packers' Desmond Bishop during the Packers Tailgate Tour. The Super Bowl champion Packers end their annual Tailgate Tour at Green Bay East High School in Green Bay on Saturday, May 14, 2011. Evan Siegle/Press-Gazette
The Green Bay Packers’ sixth annual Tailgate Tour wrapped up Saturday with a final stop at Green Bay East High School.
The feel-good week included stops in 12 cities, more than 700 miles and plenty of interaction between fans, Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy and current and former players.
Now its back to the business of courts, lockouts and separation.
Murphy, linebacker Desmond Bishop, quarterback Matt Flynn and guard Josh Sitton spent the week practically living together on a tour bus. Now they can’t even speak because of lockout rules.
“We’ve got mediation starting in Minneapolis on Monday,” Murphy said. “I’ll be following that closely. I don’t think I’m going to go over. We still hope to resolve the whole situation as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we’re in a litigation phase now.
“Everybody knew when that happened, when the players filed the lawsuit, that both sides lost control of the outcome and the timing and the process. I think the sooner we can get through that phase and back to bargaining, we have a better chance of resolving this.”
The NFL remains in a lockout because of the stay put in place by the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Murphy doesn’t expect that to change before the June 3 court hearing over the legality of the lockout in St. Louis.
“It looks like the stay, no pun intended, will stay in place until June 3,” Murphy said. “We’ll see. The mediation, we’re hopeful that we can move things along, but we’ll see with that. I think, particularly the players, are pursuing litigation strategy.
“Again, I think the key for us is we need to get back to collective bargaining. A lawsuit is never going to give you a collective bargaining agreement. So what we need is good faith collective bargaining and negotiations to get a collective bargaining agreement.”
So, everyone goes their separate ways: Flynn to Baton Rouge, La.; Sitton to Pensacola, Fla.; Bishop to San Diego.
“I missed a whole week of working out on this thing, so got to get back at it. Get back to throwing,” Flynn said. “Um, and playing golf.
“It’s wait-and-see and relax a little bit. Can’t really do much except for that. See family and friends.”
Bishop has been able to work out with several teammates in California. He doesn’t expect the players to face a major setback as far as offseason training despite being banned from team facilities.
“It was definitely good to meet all the guys from all the Super Bowls and get a chance to talk to everybody. It was a great experience,” Bishop said. “But now it’s time to get back to work. We’d be working at this time, so I’m going to do my best to keep that same feel.
“It is a little bit weird, but at the same time I think it can be a benefit for the players. “The workout we do in our individual workouts is a little more strenuous than when we’re here. So, we definitely will come back physically enhanced. Mentally, we might be at a disadvantage. But since everybody’s been in the system, we should catch up quick.”
Sitton, like everyone on the tour, was ready to see his bed. Personally, a golf and fishing regimen is in the works. And he has no desire to organize workouts with other teammates.
“I actually work out by myself either at my house or the gym,” Sitton said. “I’m not working out with anybody else. That’s never really been my style. Just kind of work out and do my thing.
“It’s really important, the (normal) offseason (team programs). Right now, we just can’t do it. Sitting here talking about it all the time is not going to do anything about it.”
