JOYFUL MOMEMTS: Bryan Bulaga joins Packers at Friday practice
GREEN BAY – It’s not the norm, but Bryan Bulaga experienced a ton of success right away in the NFL.
He became the Packers’ starter at right tackle part way through his rookie season when veteran Mark Tauscher went down due to injury. He went on to earn PFWA All-Rookie honors, and eventually became the youngest player, at the time, to start a Super Bowl, just a month shy of his 22nd birthday.
But he also went through his share of rough times, both personally – battling back from two ACL injuries four years apart – and collectively – as the Packers missed the playoffs two straight years toward the end of his time in Green Bay before rebounding.
As Bulaga, a first-round draft pick in 2010 from Iowa who manned right tackle for the better part of a decade, returned to officially retire as a Packer on Friday and got a chance to speak to the team after practice, it was that latter portion he focused on with the 2023 Packers battling through a 3-6 season thus far.
“We trusted in each other and we stuck together. There was never any finger-pointing, there was never any getting down on each other. We knew we had the guys. We just needed to pull it together and get it together, and we eventually did.”
Head Coach Matt LaFleur, who coached Bulaga during his final season in Green Bay in 2019, appreciated the meaningful message, just as Bulaga was grateful for Friday’s opportunity to share some words publicly in the Lambeau Field media auditorium.
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