10 days off couldn’t come soon enough for the Packers and their fans, as shown by the cascade of boos that descended on the hometown team during their 35-14 loss to the Falcons on Thursday night.
But while the fans have made their displeasure known with the team’s 1-2 start. Packers tight end Tucker Kraft has decided to make his frustrations with the fans known.
“That’s pretty tough. Like everyone pictures Lambeau Field and not boos. I don’t picture boos. I picture my home stadium. That’s tough. It’s pretty disappointing, especially for a home opener. It’s pretty disappointing. It’s not going to help us win. Like, I don’t know what people think that’s going to rally us or something like that. But that’s — we’re grown men. We’re mentally strong enough, capable enough to get back on the field and play ball. But it’d probably be much easier with the 70,000 people behind us rather than opposing us.”
Unsurprisingly, Kraft’s comments didn’t land with the fans.
“Grow a set! It’s tough that the team played the way they did. Yes booing sucks but rise above the sound and earn fan support. It’s not automatically given,” one fan wrote.
“Wtf do they expect? This shit is embarrassing,” wrote another.
“Tough look here Tuck. F’ng play better and prolly won’t get booed. There is a standard of play and yall are far from it,” opined another.
“Last guy I’d have expected to play this card. Packers should consider not playing like shit,” another wrote.
Not every Packer handled the booing the same way. Wide receiver Christian Watson put the onus on the team to play better and earn the fan’s praise.
“At the end of the day, it’s an entertainment business, so we have to put a better product out on the field if we want to have the fans have our back,” Watson told reporters. “Obviously, we like to think that the fans will be there through the ups and downs, but we’ve got to put out a better performance than that.”