Why Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy got emotional about Sunday’s return to Green Bay
Mike McCarthy has known this day was coming ever since the NFL released the 2022 schedule last May.
He has had time to think about and prepare himself for it.
And he tried his best to compartmentalize it and keep the focus on football.
“I’m being vulnerable, but not that vulnerable,” McCarthy said at one point.
But 15 minutes into Monday’s press conference, the litany of questions about McCarthy’s first trip back to Green Bay as Dallas Cowboys head coach, four years after being fired by the Packers and putting a dent in his family proved too much when another query was asked about how his wife and daughters were going to handle Sunday’s game between the Packers and Cowboys at Lambeau Field.
His wife Jessica grew up there. His two daughters with Jessica were born there, as were two his step sons.
“This is bullshit. You guys are trying to make me cry,” McCarthy said. “Why don’t you ask me a question about 12 personnel or something?”
The questioned continued.
“What do I miss most?,” McCarthy answered rhetorically. “Shoot, I think it’s like anything. The people,” McCarthy said. “That’s why I think it’s been such a great transition for our family. Our kids, obviously born there and raised there, but to come here, and this experience. The lifestyle in Dallas, Texas, is incredible. This has been an incredible opportunity for us as a family. But, you know, Jessica’s born, our kids were born there.”
The waters then began to flow slow.
McCarthy dropped his head to fight off the tears. He tapped the podium. But couldn’t stop.
“The people. Just the people,” McCarthy said.
But it’s one that has personnel implications for McCarthy, who spent 13 seasons in Green Bay from 2006-2018 and led them to a Super Bowl title in 2010.
The man who had street named street named in his honor outside the stadium was fired in the middle of the 2018 season, after going 11-16-1 over the previous 28 games with the Packers.
He spent a tough year in Green Bay until he was hired by the Cowboys in 2020
“The exit, it left a dent, just to be honest, with our family,” McCarthy said. “But it’s been four years. We’re so much better because of it. We’ve had time to process it all and it’s a little unique. I mean I don’t recommend anybody that goes through it to stay in the town there while you go through it.
But I think back, as my year off, I had a number of knee surgeries and my rehab was there at Titletown Orthopedics right next to Lambeau Field.
Don’t recommend that either. Four days a week. But it’s all part of it, and obviously our family has strong ties there. And always will.”
To say the McCarthy wants to win the game on Sunday for a lot of reasons is an understatement. It’s a business trip for him. It’s a reunion for his family and a date that been circled on their calendar since May.
“It’s here. But this is more about your family and your friends,” said McCarthy, who joked that he needs a loan to help pay for all the tickets he has to buy for the game. “People will say, hey, when are you coming in, like I’m going to fly in Wednesday for the weekend. We’re going to get there Saturday at 5 o’clock like we always do. So that part doesn’t change for me personally. But you know, I think this is more about your family and friends.
“They’re looking forward to it. They’re looking forward to seeing friends and family getting together. Yeah, it’s, you know, kids have school. It isn’t like the whole world is going to stop for us to go back there, for them to go back there, for a couple of days. So yeah, they’re definitely looking forward to it.”
And McCarthy is looking forward to it as well.
He get his first head coaching job there. He grew as a person and a man there. He won a Super Bowl title there, joining the legendary likes of Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren.
And he also got unceremoniously ushered out of town.
“I really want to win the game. Is that enough?” McCarthy answered when asked about his personal motivation.
And he acknowledged to talking to his team about what going back to Green Bay means to him.
“He build on it a little bit. And he said I know a lot of times throughout the journey that a lot of places bring you back to show you how much you’ve grown,” safety Malik Hooker said. “He probably feels like you know, this is a must win thing. I mean, obviously we all feel like that’s a must win anyway at this point in the season we are in. This probably means a little more to him because we’re at a point and place where his heart was so I understand him. I definitely feel him and I for sure want to get the win for him.”
The date has been set since May but McCarthy has been waiting for this moment since 2018.
He doesn’t want to make to much of it it. But there is no denying what it means.
“Emotional? I think really, I think it’s just like anything in this league, you have to get ready to go win,” McCarthy said. “That’s really where my mind is as far as the game. Obviously, I have great memories about Green Bay. I spent a lot of time there, but I’m four years removed from working there. I’m really looking forward to taking our team up there. Like I told them today in the team meeting, this is a really cool place to compete.
“Obviously, the history, the tradition of Green Bay and Lambeau Field. It’s an experience that I want them to maximize. But most importantly, we’re going up there to win the game.”
