Jones To Take Personal Leave, Bob Harlan To Remain As Packer

crkone · Post #1 » by **crkone** » Sat May 26, 2007 7:34 pm

http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2007/05/26/1/

John Jones, president and COO of the Packers, has taken a leave of absence for personal reasons. Peter Platten, speaking on behalf of the organization's Executive Committee, made the announcement Saturday.

"We determined that it would be mutually beneficial for John to take a leave of absence while we continue our evaluation of the situation and collectively determine next steps," said Platten. "John will be on leave until the Executive Committee and John conclude that process."

"It's been a very difficult year but also a wonderful year in many respects," said Jones. "I need to step back and recharge my batteries. I will take this leave of absence. The Executive Committee and I mutually agreed that it was in the best interests of the Green Bay Packers to take this step."

Bob Harlan will continue to serve as the principal executive of the Green Bay Packers for a period of time to be determined, as Chairman of the Board, Platten also announced.

"Everyone knows what a great leader Bob has been for this organization over the past 18 years," said Platten. "We are pleased that Bob has agreed to provide leadership continuity for the organization. The Executive Committee has tremendous confidence in Bob and his capable staff."

Post #2 » by **MickeyDavis** » Sat May 26, 2007 8:30 pm

I assume it's health reasons. He has heart problems. Hope he gets better.

Post #3 » by **paulpressey25** » Sat May 26, 2007 9:08 pm

This is a pretty major story.

Somethings never been right with Jones.....I know he's had health issues, but why not come out and just say that's the problem. I've never quite understood how this guy got the job. It always seemed to me like we took an older Terry Stotts in to be head of the organization.

I'd guess he never returns and the team looks for a new successor to Harlan.

Post #4 » by **paulpressey25** » Sun May 27, 2007 3:43 am

The MJS story is very interesting.....

Essentially implies that John Jones was screwing stuff up and Harlan went to the board and got him set aside.....

......But Harlan recently brought up concerns to the Packers' executive committee about Jones' ability to manage the National Football League franchise. Committee secretary Peter M. Platten III announced Saturday that the succession plan was on hold and Harlan would forgo his imminent retirement to remain the team's leader for as long as one year.

....Surprisingly, it was Harlan who, about three weeks ago, blew the whistle on his prot

Post #5 » by **MickeyDavis** » Sun May 27, 2007 4:12 am

Props to Harlan for righting a wrong before it happened.

Thunder Muscle · Post #6 » by **Thunder Muscle** » Sun May 27, 2007 3:24 pm

Interesting development. Alot of items pretty vague, I would not expect to see Jones back in the picture.

Post #7 » by **MickeyDavis** » Sun May 27, 2007 11:09 pm

Jone is out for good.

Neusch23 · Post #8 » by **Neusch23** » Tue May 29, 2007 2:37 pm

anyone heard what problems forced this?

Things generally run smooth from the offices down there. Other than some of the TT, Moss, Draft, and Favre issues that have come about, I can't think of any specific problems....

What has anyone heard?

Post #9 » by **MickeyDavis** » Wed May 30, 2007 1:33 am

The word that I've been hearing is that Harlan and Jones worked well in tandem. Harlan was always the nice guy, smooth talker, could charm anyone. Jones was the opposite. That worked well on things such as the Lambeau renovation, Harlan could butter people up, behind the scenes Jones was the hardass that twisted arms and got things done. As Harlan has given Jones more responsibilities over the last few months Jones management style just hasn't meshed with the rest of the front office. There is no longer a Harlan around to soothe everyone and people couldn't stand the abrasive Jones.

Andrew Brandt could be the guy now. Supposedly Harlan had told Jones he should pick and start grooming a successor as soon as he took over and Brandt was likely the guy. But he's still pretty young so who knows if he's ready.

deep throat · Post #10 » by **deep throat** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:48 pm

MickeyDavis wrote:The word that I've been hearing is that Harlan and Jones worked well in tandem. Harlan was always the nice guy, smooth talker, could charm anyone. Jones was the opposite. That worked well on things such as the Lambeau renovation, Harlan could butter people up, behind the scenes Jones was the hardass that twisted arms and got things done. As Harlan has given Jones more responsibilities over the last few months Jones management style just hasn't meshed with the rest of the front office. .

That's pretty much it. When Ted went to the board about Moss-Jones told him to back off -he didn't want him in GB.

Post #11 » by **paulpressey25** » Thu May 31, 2007 4:48 am

I don't buy it that it's "management style issues"

This guy has been an exec there for eight years.....by that point, you'd know his management style and whether he's up for the job. If it's a matter of a "gruff" demeanor offending the secretary pool or middle managers, that would have shown up a long-time ago. I'd still speculate it's a different matter that the team doesn't want to publicize(substance abuse/sexual harrassment or the like)

If it's only "management style issues" then arguably Bob Harlan has done an awful job in that he handpicked a guy and then over eight years failed to see that he couldn't do the job and wouldn't get along with people, so a few days before he's scheduled to take over, sees that he's canned. That story just doesn't hunt IMO unless Harlan is completely incompetent, and I don't think he is.

EastSideBucksFan · Post #12 » by **EastSideBucksFan** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:49 pm

I'm not one to start rumors, but I'm hearing that Ted Thompson leads an alternative lifestyle and John Jones had a serious problem with this. Supposedly this is tearing the orgnazation up and Bob Harlan felt he could not leave the Packers in such disarray. Jones left because he could not deal with who Ted was as a person. Remarks and comments were made in meetings and it became apparent that this business relationship could not continue.

I'm sure this is going to get leaked eventually, IF, this is true. I heard from a reliable source.....anyone else catch wind of this?

deep throat · Post #13 » by **deep throat** » Thu May 31, 2007 5:02 pm

EastSideBucksFan wrote:I'm not one to start rumors, but I'm hearing that Ted Thompson leads an alternative lifestyle and John Jones had a serious problem with this. Supposedly this is tearing the orgnazation up and Bob Harlan felt he could not leave the Packers in such disarray. Jones left because he could not deal with who Ted was as a person. Remarks and comments were made in meetings and it became apparent that this business relationship could not continue.

I'm sure this is going to get leaked eventually, IF, this is true. I heard from a reliable source.....anyone else catch wind of this?

I heard this as well. I would also add to that Moss was an issue. He and Ted didn't see eye to eye.

Post #14 » by **MickeyDavis** » Thu May 31, 2007 5:53 pm

I understand Harlan respecting privacy on this. But in the internet world it's better to just come clean with what happened, otherwise rumors will go crazy.

LeopoldStotch · Post #15 » by **LeopoldStotch** » Thu May 31, 2007 9:15 pm

Wow. If the "alternative lifestyle" thing is true and it gets out, this will be a wild story. According to Packers.com:

He (TT) is single and enjoys an occasional round of golf in times of leisure.

Seems odd that a man of his age and wealth would be single. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :wink:

BuckPack · Post #16 » by **BuckPack** » Thu May 31, 2007 9:16 pm

Yup, something's not adding up here, and it's not just his "management style" (like Press said).

The TT stuff is interesting....

Thunder Muscle · Post #17 » by **Thunder Muscle** » Thu May 31, 2007 10:39 pm

Obviously there is something fishy here. The TT thing is an interesting development (well rumor I guess). Is the assumption of "alternate lifestyle" in this case, meaning gay...? Alternate lifestyle can mean quite a few things to be honest.

Post #18 » by **paulpressey25** » Fri Jun 1, 2007 3:19 am

TT is a pretty devout Evangelical Christian man....have that on very good authority.

Now, whether he is so involved in Church that he's using that to help him "fight" some tendencies, who knows. But I do know that the Church he attends is the same one Reggie used to attend. It's not one that embraces or is particularly tolerant of a gay lifestyle.

Post #19 » by **humanrefutation** » Fri Jun 1, 2007 4:31 am

LeopoldStotch wrote:Seems odd that a man of his age and wealth would be single.

Really?

Post #20 » by **humanrefutation** » Fri Jun 1, 2007 4:37 am

paulpressey25 wrote:TT is a pretty devout Evangelical Christian man....have that on very good authority.

Now, whether he is so involved in Church that he's using that to help him "fight" some tendencies, who knows. But I do know that the Church he attends is the same one Reggie used to attend. It's not one that embraces or is particularly tolerant of a gay lifestyle.

I don't think that necessarily eliminates the possibility that he is gay. Granted, the church would probably not be tolerant of the lifestyle, but he could've been in the closet...and maybe John Jones found out about that. Or maybe rumors were going around the organization that created a rift between John Jones and TT.

Based on what Bob Harlan has said though, it was a problem which had been run into in the past with John Jones...from time to time. He didn't want to bring it up to the board until he was assured that it could not be worked out. Additionally, John Jones only recently got into the football side of the operation, this past year in fact, where Harlan took him under his wing and tried to help ease the transition between himself and Jones. This leads me to believe that it was a personality conflict with the rest of the front office of the team.