 |
|
Green
Bay Packers tight end Spencer Havner celebrates a touchdown
during the second half of an NFL football game against the
Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in
Green Bay
.
|
GREEN BAY - Nobody expected the
Spencer Havner experiment to work out quite like this — not even
Havner himself.
Three months after coaches let the
backup linebacker begin taking snaps at tight end in training camp,
Havner has become a bona fide pass catching threat.
Making the most of his increased
playing time in the wake of an injury to tight end Jermichael
Finley, Havner has caught three touchdowns in the Packers' past two
games, tying him with Donald Driver for the team lead.
"All he does is catch
touchdowns," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.
Not bad for a guy whose standout
career as a linebacker at UCLA previously led him to nothing more
than life on the fringe of the NFL with three separate stints on the
Packers' practice squad.
"I think he has a little more
ability than people think he does," Packers coach Mike McCarthy
said. "He runs better than people think that he does, and he's
been productive. He's got very natural hands. You've always seen
that in his time here. I think he's definitely someone you could
point to as an example of hard work and doing what you're supposed
to do. I'm very proud of him."
Did Havner ever envision things
working out like this?
"No," Havner said. "I
mean, a lot of opportunities have presented themselves to me, and
I'm just trying to take advantage of them. It's been pretty neat.
It's been fun."
Undrafted out of college and waived
by the Washington Redskins just before the start of the 2006 season,
the Packers signed Havner to their practice squad. He'd go through
the same thing the next two seasons, failing to make the Packers'
active roster coming out of camp and returning to the practice
squad.
The life of a practice squad player
isn't glamorous, but Havner's hidden talent might never have been
discovered without it.
Working on the scout team in
practice, Havner would help the Packers' first-string defense
prepare for games by running the upcoming opponent's offensive plays
as a tight end. He'd keep making impressive catches in practice,
leading coaches and teammates to joke that they should let him play
offense.
"He would go over there, and
he'd catch everything," McCarthy said. "He obviously had a
natural ability, a knack for playing the position."
Havner finally made it to the
Packers' active roster last December, playing mainly on special
teams in the final four games of last season.
Then what was once a novelty became
reality.
McCarthy told Havner during offseason
workouts that the team was going to give him a chance to train as a
tight end along with his regular linebacker and special teams
duties. It meant a lot more work, but Havner never hesitated.
"I wasn't worried about the
work," Havner said. "It's worth it to me."
Havner played tight end and
linebacker during his high school career in California, actually
drawing some interest from college programs to play offense. But he
went to UCLA, playing only linebacker and special teams.
Significant position switches are
rare in the NFL, but the Packers actually have two players who went
from defense to offense: Korey Hall was a linebacker at Boise State,
but the Packers took him in the sixth round of the 2007 draft and
told him right away that they were turning him into a fullback.
Like Havner, Hall never imagined
playing offense coming out of college.
"No. Not at all," Hall
said. "I was totally preparing as a linebacker to play in the
NFL. It's just one of those things, you have to play the hand you're
dealt."
Hall said Havner has done an
impressive job making the transition.
"I think everybody's really
happy with the job he's doing, and he's really adapted well and
picked up the offense," Hall said. "The tight end position
can be a tough spot to learn as far as the playbook goes, just
because of all the formations and routes and blocking
assignments."
Havner could get another chance to
show off his ability at Tampa Bay on Sunday, as Finley continues to
recover from a knee injury and isn't expected to play.
But for all his newfound notoriety,
Havner's reality-football ability doesn't necessarily translate to
fantasy football. Some of Havner's friends have added him to their
fantasy teams; others have told him their league Web sites still
consider him a linebacker.
"They said, 'I picked you up, I
picked you up on my team.' A bunch of people have," Havner
said. "But then someone was like, 'Well, you're on defense.' I
don't really know. I don't play it."
|
