GREEN BAY \u2014 Evan Williams tried his best to mimic the sound.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeh-beh-beh-BEH!\u201d the Green Bay Packers second-year safety interjected as Xavier McKinney was in mid-sentence. \u201cPshew-Pshew-PSHEW! MEEW-MEEW-MEEW!\u201d<\/p>\n
Suffice it to say, Williams won\u2019t be confused for Michael Winslow, the human sound effects machine from those old-school Police Academy movies, anytime soon \u2014 even though his attempt got a hearty laugh from McKinney.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s pretty good,\u201d McKinney said.<\/p>\n
McKinney, the Packers All-Pro safety and defensive leader, had been in the middle of explaining what\u2019s gone on in the team\u2019s defensive meeting room throughout camp, thanks to an over-the-top emphasis on forcing more turnovers \u2014 specifically, forcing more fumbles.<\/p>\n
In an attempt to reinforce that directive, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley conjured up an out-of-the-box idea. He decided to appoint defensive quality control coach Wendel Davis as the czar of the program, dedicating the first portion of every post-practice defensive meeting to acknowledging players on the big screen for their ball-attacking accomplishments and calling out those who pass up opportunities to do so.<\/p>\n
Davis\u2019 title? \u201cBall King.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I had the idea before training camp,\u201d Hafley explained in advance of Saturday night\u2019s annual \u201cFamily Night\u201d practice at Lambeau Field. \u201cI wanted to find a way to emphasize it, and I grabbed Wendel and I said, \u2018Hey, I\u2019ve got some ideas, but I want you to run with this.\u2019 And we decided to call him \u2018The Ball King.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, they\u2019re not allowed to call him \u2018Wendel Davis\u2019 anymore. He\u2019s \u2018The Ball King.\u2019 So if you see him, please refer to him as \u2018B.K.\u2019 or \u2018Ball King.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how the system works, according to Williams and multiple players who joyfully explained it this week:<\/p>\n
\u2022 The defense is divided into three teams, each with its own general manager. McKinney is the GM for one team, defensive end Rashan Gary another, and linebacker Quay Walker the other.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Points are awarded for everything from pass break-ups and scooping up the ball after incomplete passes (to reinforce ball awareness habits) to forced fumbles and defensive touchdowns.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The team that amasses the most points each week wins an award, with Williams\u2019 team having emerged victorious in Week 1 of camp.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have like a little WWE Packers belt that we\u2019ve got, and I was actually the MVP of the team that was winning this week, so I was wearing it over my shoulders all week, strutting around the facility,\u201d Williams bragged. \u201cDefinitely, it\u2019s a healthy competition and I feel like everybody’s buying into it.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor real.\u201d<\/p>\n
That much is obvious. The Packers have taken the old NFL adage of \u201cYou get what you emphasize\u201d to the nth degree for this, going so far as to install an enormous red light \u2014 \u201cLike on top of a police car!\u201d Williams exclaimed \u2014 in the ceiling.<\/p>\n
In the post-practice meetings, Davis shows clips of players ball-awareness successes and failures. Playmakers are celebrated, missed opportunities are booed and heckled. \u00a0Every time a clip is shown of a player earning points, the flashing lights are activated and Davis \u2014 er, \u201cBall King\u201d \u2014 sounds the alarm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s GREAT,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cI think it\u2019s definitely added a level of urgency for everybody. Obviously, we already had a high emphasis on getting the ball, but it\u2019s adding more emphasis on punch-outs, interceptions, just takeaways in general.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s putting everybody on high alert to get the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
The effect has been undeniable. McKinney and Williams, who are neighbors in a back corner of the team\u2019s newly refurbished luxe locker room, are so all-in on the idea that neither of them could stop talking about essentially every aspect of the \u201cBall King\u201d operation.<\/p>\n
Across the room, cornerback Keisean Nixon sounded downright downtrodden when he confessed that he hasn\u2019t set off the siren a single time so far in camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t yet. Not once,\u201d Nixon said glumly. \u201cI haven\u2019t gotten too many \u2018opps\u2019 on the ball yet. Jordan Love is staying away from me, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what the room is like when the siren is activated, Nixon replied, \u201cExcitement. Crazy. Crazy doesn\u2019t even cover it. It just brings energy to the room. It is crazy. It\u2019s funny, but I like it. I really like it a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, even though we\u2019re grown ups, even though we get paid, everybody\u2019s got imaginations and everybody wants to have fun. We\u2019re in a business that\u2019s always serious, but it makes it fun for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that the Packers weren\u2019t exactly inept at forcing turnovers last season, in Hafley\u2019s first year in charge. Their 31 takeaways \u2014 17 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries \u2014 ranked fourth in the NFL, behind only Pittsburgh (33), Minnesota (33) and Buffalo (32).<\/p>\n
But Hafley has put the onus on forcing fumbles more than anything else. Last year, the Packers forced 26 fumbles, and Hafley has made 43 the magic number for this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cool part about our guys is they\u2019re able to have fun with it, and I think it\u2019s bringing them together, but they\u2019re buying into it and you can see that when we go out there and practice,\u201d Hafley said. \u201cWe took the ball away last year. We didn’t force enough fumbles and that’s not good enough. So our play style, how hard we’re going to play, how physical we’re going to play, how we run to the ball \u2014 that’s non-negotiable. We’re going to attack the football, so we need to emphasize it more. We need to coach it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs coaches, let’s be real: We can talk about anything and you could emphasize stuff, but they have to buy in. And they have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Official statistics for forced fumbles (as compared to fumble recoveries) appear to only go back to 1991 in the NFL\u2019s database. According to those numbers, the 2010 New York Giants hold the modern NFL record for forced fumbles with 42.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our defense is attacking the ball unlike anytime I\u2019ve seen it in my [tenure], going into Year 7 now,\u201d said LaFleur, who hired Hafley before last season after having Mike Pettine (2019, 2020) and Joe Barry (2021, 2022, 2023) as his previous defensive coordinators. \u201cThey\u2019re doing a really good job of taking it to heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot of fun with it, but at the same time, it\u2019s absolutely critical, and those guys have embraced that and are challenging one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked why he felt it was important to get creative with the idea, LaFleur replied, \u201cIf you are entertaining in a meeting, I think you\u2019re going to get guys\u2019 attention a lot more.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, yeah, we\u2019re serious about it. But it\u2019s kind of lighthearted at the same time. The guys are enjoying those presentations, and Ball King\u2019s done a heck of a job.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to linebacker Isaiah Simmons, one of the few defensive players with experience on other teams, the Packers\u2019 dedication to the Ball King\u2019s project is unique.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverywhere I\u2019ve been, they emphasized it, but not to this magnitude,\u201d said Simmons, a former No. 8 overall pick who joined the Packers this offseason after three years with the Arizona Cardinals and two with the Giants. \u201cIt\u2019s a really, really important thing, and it\u2019s a good way to keep the guys involved and intentional with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether all the hullabaloo actually leads to the defense forcing more fumbles and leading the NFL in takeaways remains to be seen, of course. But there\u2019s no doubt that the commitment is there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more you speak something into existence, the more likely it will come [true] and the more people will operate in a way to make that a truth,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThat\u2019s something we\u2019re always preaching every day \u2014 \u201843,\u2019 \u201843.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see guys come out in practice, anytime they\u2019re close to the ball, anytime anyone\u2019s close to the ball, they\u2019re punching at it. We talk about angry, violent intentions. The picks are great, obviously, but to go earn that forced fumble is definitely different.”<\/p>\n
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