Cheesehead
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
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GREEN BAY – He’s not going to share it, but he still has the list.
Back in 2015, David Bakhtiari was on the verge of completing his third season as the Packers’ starting left tackle when a nasty ankle injury in the fourth quarter of a victory at Oakland put everything temporarily on hold.
The following week, not suiting up during pregame at Arizona, Bakhtiari wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself.
“In the locker room, I realized it was the first time I wasn’t going to be playing in a game, and it weighed heavily on me,” he said. “So I sat down and said, OK, what do I want to do?”
The 6-foot-4, 310-pound blindside protector for quarterback Aaron Rodgers pulled out his phone and started a list. It was filled with personal and team goals he would strive for from here on out, starting with presumably recovering from his ankle injury in time to help the Packers in the postseason.
He did that, missing the final two games of the 2015 regular season and the opening playoff victory at Washington before returning for the NFC Divisional round at the site of his private mini-epiphany, Arizona.
The following year, he signed a contract extension after Week 1 and went on to earn the first of three Associated Press All-Pro recognitions, second-team honors in 2016 and ’17, followed by a first-team nod last season. He’s maintained his durability as well, missing only seven of a possible 104 career games, including playoffs.