Matt LaFleur, Green Bay’s young new head coach, is a breath of fresh air in so many ways. But when it comes to making (mandatory) appearances before the press, he’s like all the rest: he becomes a public relations man for the team and the NFL.
The closest thing there is to an exception in the NFL is Bill Belichick, who participates in press conferences no more than he is obliged to – just enough to keep the league off his back. The last time the public regularly got non-distilled comments by a head coach – other than the occasional out-of-control rant – was probably in 1999, Mike Ditka’s final year as a head coach.