Well it seems there was a lot going on within the Packers organisation that led to the eventual firing of former head coach Mike McCarthy.
In a lengthy report on the dynamic between McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Bleacher Report indicated several potential factors that brought down what many believed would be an NFL dynasty — some more interesting than others.
According to former Packers running back Ryan Grant, the marriage between McCarthy and Rodgers was doomed from the start because McCarthy came to the team in 2006 after being the offensive coordinator for the 49ers where he drafted Alex Smith No. 1 overall in 2005.
Rodgers, as we all know, fell to the Packers at No. 24 that year.
"Aaron's always had a chip on his shoulder with Mike," Grant said. "The guy who ended up becoming your coach passed on you when he had a chance. Aaron was upset that Mike passed on him — that Mike actually verbally said that Alex Smith was a better quarterback."
McCarthy actually told Sports Illustrated in 2015 that Rodgers took every opportunity to remind him of that then-decade old slight.
“We play Kansas City in Week 3,” McCarthy said. “We won't make it through the first half of that week without him saying something. I'm certain.”
That ill will from 2005 was just the tip of the iceberg that wore away at Rodgers, who found fault in McCarthy’s play calls, coaching staff decisions and general "football IQ" but rarely spoke up earnestly.
Aaron Rodgers to Mike McCarthy pic.twitter.com/K3Z221dWaE
— Eric Rosenthal (@ericsports) April 4, 2019
Rodgers instead, according to a cited source, chose to be passive aggressive and "conflict-averse."
"I guarantee you, (Rodgers) never — maybe once or twice — but mostly never, ever addressed any of those things with Mike," an anonymous source told Bleacher Report. "Which means all it did was fester and poison it."
The oddest tidbit offered in the report tackled McCarthy’s massage schedule.
McCarthy allegedly scheduled secret massages in his office while allowing assistants to run team meetings. He may not have been getting a massage during every missed meeting, but all it took was one for the team to notice, take hold of the theory and mentally ding McCarthy for checking out.
"If you're not a part of meetings, and then you're trying to be pissed about execution, nobody's going to really respect you," one former front-office member from the McCarthy-Rodgers era told Bleacher Report. "They're going to look at you like, 'Where have you been all week?' It sounded like he was really just chilling."
McCarthy pushed back on that piece of reporting, per NFL Media.
"I wouldn’t even know where to start and stop with the article,” he said, in part. "To say I skipped a team meeting for a massage is utterly absurd."
Here’s the full quote from Mike McCarthy, who I spoke to about an hour ago. Certainly hasn’t lost his sense of humor. pic.twitter.com/bmDEQbJDTr
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 4, 2019
McCarthy was a head coaching hopeful this offseason, but was passed over by the eight NFL teams with a vacancy.
Matt LaFleur, 39, was hired by Green Bay to replace McCarthy and has a blank slate to build a relationship with arguably the most talented quarterback in the NFL. However, LaFleur told ESPN earlier this week he's yet to meet with Rodgers since his hiring.
Read the full Bleacher Report piece on Rodgers and McCarthy here .