Green Bay Packers: 10 Nationally underrated players of the 2000s
By Hunter Noll
Since the 2000 season, the Green Bay Packers have a regular season record of 178-109-1. That hasn’t stopped some players from being overlooked though.
The Green Bay Packers record of 178-109-1 since the year 2000 suggests they’ve been a top-tier team in the NFL for most of that time. Due to their prominence in the league, the Packers do get their fair share of attention in the media. That hasn’t stopped some players from not getting the spotlight they deserve.
This isn’t a list of the 10 most underrated players of all time, but rather simply a list of 10 players who were definitely undervalued in the 2000s.
This also isn’t a shot at the fans. Many of these players got plenty of love within the Packers fanbase. Fans tend to recognize a player’s value more than the National Media though. This is strictly players that the National Media didn’t always give proper dues to.
The national media is asked to pay attention to every player on every team. This is made difficult at times. Sometimes, a position is so strong that great players aren’t rewarded with trips to the Pro Bowl or placement on an All-NFL team.
Then there are players like Chad Johnson (Ochocinco) and Randy Moss, as well as Terrell Owens who dominated the NFL headlines, leaving little room to talk about others.
Even the Packers had someone like this in Brett Favre. The media loved to talk about Favre, especially during the quarterback’s retirement saga. When the media is wrapped up in one player, everyone else is thrown to the side.
This is especially true about the team he plays for. If the media is talking so much about Favre, they won’t “waste” much time talking about anyone else on the team, because there are 31 other teams that need to be discussed.
These 10 players fell victim to the media’s system in one way or another. Whether it was a stacked position or another player dominating the headlines, or even just unexplained ignorance, they weren’t given the respect they deserved.
*Disclaimed* The list is in no particular order. As mentioned before, these are simply 10 players for the Green Bay Packers who were underrated since 2000. Therefore, the positioning is random.