Javon Walker: a move to a faster lane

The big story in the NFL this week was Javon Walker being found beaten and unconscious following a night of partying in Las Vegas. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3448362

I remember the day I met Javon and how impressed I was with him. It was a Sunday morning; the second day of the 2002 NFL Draft. On the previous day the Packers had traded a second round pick to move from the 28th to the 20th pick to select Javon as our first-round selection. Minutes after making the pick, at least three teams called that were directly behind us and told us we had taken their guy.

Javon flew in right away to meet the staff and the media, a customary routine for first-round picks. We were having breakfast the next morning, preparing for the selections ahead in rounds 4-7 when he walked in. He was tall, strapping, handsome and innocent as a kindergartener. He addressed everyone “Yes, sir” or “No, sir” and had a disarming yet glowing smile.

Our head coach and general manager, Mike Sherman, looked Javon in the eye that morning and said that he hoped for one thing in Javon’s career – that he would not change. Javon, of course, assured Mike that he would not.

Wishful thinking.

Javon, as we now know, became a wonderful player for the Packers, slowly separating himself from our other receivers in terms of strength, speed and ability to separate. And in his first couple of years on the team, he appeared to be that shy, innocent and just-happy-to-be-here kid we drafted. Soon enough, however, things would change.

Following the 2004 season and Javon's selection to Pro Bowl, with whispers was in his ear about how good he had become relative to other receivers in football, he fired his previous agent and hired Drew Rosenhaus, who proceeded to send an offer that would have made Javon the highest paid receiver in the NFL. We declined but discussed that we would address the contract at some point during the 2005 season. (A lot is made of Drew, but I always found him pleasant to deal with; you just have to be aware that, in many cases, he is playing to the media).

Javon tore his knee in the first game of the 2005 season against the Lions, which turned out to be the end of his time in Green Bay (he had his surgery and did his rehab in Houston). He then once again changed agents, from Drew to Kennard McGuire, but the message became louder that he wanted out. As to why, we never really were given a clear answer. There were comments about being offended by Brett Favre speaking out against Javon’s contract demands, conflicts with other teammates, being disrespected by a hotel clerk in Milwaukee, etc. It did not matter. He wanted out in no uncertain terms, as Kennard expressed to me at the NFL Combine in February 2006 and Javon expressed to anyone who would listen soon thereafter.

These situations are never easy for a team, as we knew his teammates were watching as to whether we would accede to his trade wishes. In this case, however, things were made easier due to the extent of surgery and long-term prognosis of his knee. Thus, on the first day of the 2006 NFL draft, precisely four years from the day we selected him, we traded him to the Broncos for a high second-round pick (which we subsequently traded and ended up taking Greg Jennings later that round).

As the years went by with Javon, I noticed some changes. He took the two-hour drive to hang out in Milwaukee a lot -- hardly unusual for Packer players, yet his excursions were more frequent than most. And, of course, when time allowed, he went to Vegas. Also, the people that started hanging around him appeared to be a more fast-track crew than his usual post-game crew that was primarily family.

I also remember a curious call from a guy in New Jersey to let us know he had dragged Javon out of the water in Cancun where he was “pretty bloodied up” after a jet skiing accident. Although this was a strange call, the guy sounded legit so I called Kennard and found out that yes, Javon went to the hospital after falling out of a jet ski, though severity of the injury was downplayed. By now, however, the rumor mill about Javon's off-the-field life were hard to ignore.

I saw Javon last year when we played the Broncos in a Monday night game and we had a nice long visit. He was, unfortunately, in the same status when I saw him last with the Packers – in a sweat suit not playing due to a knee injury. He ironically said he missed Green Bay and later I even heard he wanted to come back and play for the Packers (which he considered this year before being offered 12M in guaranteed money from the Raiders).

I feel for Javon and his injuries in Las Vegas this week, although he is fortunate to apparently be all right. I am not shocked, however, that he put himself in a position for this to happen. Obviously, my heart bleeds for Javon to have witnessed the death of a close friend a year ago. Mostly, however, I feel sorry for Javon that there does not appear to be a driving moral compass in his life and there should be; he is too good a person for there not to be a person or persons guiding him. There is nothing wrong with a young wealthy single guy enjoying this time in life, but this was not the polite, shy and respectful young man that walked into our building on draft weekend in 2002.