At the request of Head Coach Mike McCarthy, former NFL MVP Rich Gannon will speak to the Packers' young quarterbacks in their Friday morning meeting to describe his diligent off-the-field preparation during his 18-year pro career.
Gannon's dedication to film study and mental preparation impressed McCarthy when the two worked together from 1995-98 in Kansas City.
McCarthy was the Chiefs' quarterbacks coach then, and Gannon started 19 games during that stretch before joining the Oakland Raiders in 1999. Three years later, Gannon won the 2002 NFL MVP award and led the Raiders to the Super Bowl.
"He was the most competitive guy off the field that I've seen as far as his approach," McCarthy said. "He's an extreme competitor on the field, but just the way he went about his business...He watched the same amount of film no matter who he was playing or how many times he had played against them."
Obviously, Gannon had to keep himself in great physical shape in order to play quarterback for 18 years, and the mental preparation was a tried-and-true formula that spared no effort as well.
"He treated his preparation of the game mentally no different than physically," McCarthy said. "He was very detailed in his approach and how he prepared for every single football game."
While in town, Gannon also is scheduled to tape some promotional spots for his new role as color commentator on the Packers' preseason broadcasts. He will work with play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan, and the two will be a regular-season broadcast tandem on CBS's NFL telecasts this year.
With Gannon's visit, McCarthy expects his young signal callers -- Aaron Rodgers, Ingle Martin, Brian Wrobel and Tom Arth -- to learn some valuable lessons in addition to whatever they can glean from watching and working with Brett Favre on a daily basis.
"Brett has an education of a lifetime for our younger guys," McCarthy said. "But to have a chance to educate younger quarterbacks from a different approach and different person, I think you need take full advantage of it.
"Anytime you have an opportunity to put someone of his class in front of your group and share his experience, I think it's a great education for our quarterbacks."
