Green Bay Packers five-time Pro Bowl left tackle David Bakhtiari sent some waves through the fanbase and organization with his comments about the team being in a rebuild. Every other player that has spoken publicly about the term “rebuild” have been quick to shoot down that terminology. They believe they have all the tools to be a competitive football team right now. As I wrote earlier, the comments Bakhtiari made are being taken out of context. While he did not say the team was going to be good, he also said they weren’t going to be bad. His simple take is: “I don’t know, and that’s what’s beautiful about football.”
It sounds a lot like something Aaron Rodgers would say. That does not make it any less true though. Don’t get him wrong, though. Bakhtiari strives for excellence every day, and as The Athletic‘s Matt Schneidman revealed, winning a Super Bowl is what gets Bakhtiari out bed every morning.
Green Bay Packers Left Tackle David Bakhtiari Has One Goal in Mind: Win the Super Bowl
The Packers are in the midst of OTA’s, a voluntary team activity that Bakhtiari is attending in order to collect his workout bonus. During the second practice that was open to the media, he spoke to Schneidman about his comments and what keeps him motivated this late in his career:
“People go to the word ‘rebuild’ on an extreme level or you look at what it is. The beauty is I have no f—— clue. That’s what football is. We’re all batting a thousand come the first game of the year and we’ll figure it out. I think the Seahawks rebuilt off of Russell (Wilson), look at how that turned out. … That’s how I look at it and it’s a simple way to put it. We can slice it, cut it, make it look like who wants to be the hero or the villain on that word, but that’s really what I mean.
“Honestly, I’m having a great time when I am back. Having fun, good conversations when I’m on the field with anyone. We understand the expectation, understand where it’s at and it’s been kind of cool.
“I really like how I’m feeling … I have finally not had a surgery for the first time in the last two or three offseasons. … I get to have an offseason to train, to get away, to finally relax and not freak out my body. Being a dad has been amazing and mind, spiritually, mentally, physically, I just feel very light and that’s been very pleasing. Hopefully I can reap the benefits from that.
“I’ve got all the cool accolades … I would love to hold the Lombardi (Trophy). I want to have a ring. I’ve told Aaron that. That’s something that’s really important to me in my career … that gets me up every morning and that puts me to bed early every night.”
While Bakhtiari has no idea how the Packers will perform in 2023, his own goal for the season is quite clear: winning the Super Bowl. Bakhtiari’s future beyond this season is up in the air, but that is not something that neither he nor the team is worried about right now it seems. The focus is on the here and now, and the goal for now is simple: win.
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