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Green Bay blues Chmura's arrest impacts Packer community
Posted: Saturday April 22, 2000 07:55 PM
By John Giannone, CNNSI.com GREEN BAY, Wis. - Abraham Lincoln once said, "Public opinion in this country is everything." That sentiment from 140 years ago is even more profound today in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Because in the smallest town in professional sports, image is more than the result of a clever marketing campaign and public opinion is as powerful and indelible as the sight of a Packer in shackles. The arrest of Packers tight end Mark Chmura and the details of the police report have painted a sordid portrait of a man who played in three Pro Bowls and helped the Packers to their Super Bowl title three years ago. And while the report is strictly the alleged victim's account, the line between fact and rumor in Green Bay has blurred. It seems everyone has a Chmura story. And it doesn't seem to matter that he hasn't even been charged with a crime. The incident has fueled the airwaves of local sports talk radio shows and generated a lot of negative opinion. "I would rather deal with a team that is going to go .500 than in the playoffs with a guy that was out there doing whatever with 17-year-old chicks," said one caller. Opinions from fans on the street were no different. "They'll just get rid of him," said one. "That's it, period. We don't need that kind of stuff here." This kind of incident is one that mayor Paul Jaiden knows can tear at the heart and soul of a city, especially Green Bay. "A criminal problem like that in a community this size, even though it didn't occur in Green Bay is emphasized more, is blown up more than if it occurs in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, et cetera." Gerald Boyle of Milwaukee is Chmura's attorney in the case. "When a ballplayer bleeds, the city bleeds," he said. "When a ballplayer does something that accuses him of wrongdoing, I think the people are greatly affected by it." In this town, Chmura has already crossed the bridge separating hero and zero. "I correlate being a Packer in the city of Green Bay much like a fish tale," says Brian Noble, a former linebacker who played for the Packers from 1985 to 1993. "As the story gets told, it tends to grow a little larger. It's that scenario where they'll tell two friends and they'll tell two friends and so on and so on. So it tends to get larger than what actually transpired." Chris Havel who covers the NFL for the Green Bay Press-Gazette doesn't think Chmura has much of a future as a Packer. "I would say the consensus is that he's probably persona non grata, not welcomed back here in a Packer uniform. "Mark liked the nightlife and you hear stories and you try not to perpetuate those in the media, you just sit back in the media room and talk about it a little bit. I'm not surprised and I think that's the sad thing because I don't think anybody would say no way Mark Chmura would do this." In his nine years in Green Bay, Chmura lent his name and his time to several children's charities. In 1996, he was voted the Packers' Man of the Year. But in the last two weeks, one ugly accusation has altered Chmura's reputation in a community long on morals and memory.
"I don't think this is a case where you can catch a pass and score a touchdown and all is forgiven and you're doing the Lambeau leap," Havel said. "I think they'd throw him back." The allegations against Chmura are especially surprising given the fact that he was extremely critical of President Clinton's moral behavior during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In fact, Chmura was embraced by the Wisconsin Republican Party and was thought to be a prime candidate for public office once his career ended. "People here were saying this is a guy who wouldn't go to the White House because he thought what Clinton was doing was wrong," said Tom Perry, a columnist with the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "And I look at what he's been accused of doing. "Most people in this city don't think he'll ever play another down for the Green Bay Packers." And as mayor Jaiden points out, "Ultimately you can't help but feel more pain when you're dealing with an individual who has spoken out in the past." Part of the Packers' corporate mission statement dictates that on-field and operating personnel will, at all times, maintain the highest ethical and moral standards in their actions. "It's a horrific thing to happen to anyone," Boyle said. "I've seen it time and time again. Clergy people, police officers, lawyers, judges. Mr. Chmura is in that category. When they get painted with the brush, it's a very, very wide stroke."
In the past, Packer transgressions have been dealt with harshly as was proven during the 1987 sexual assault trials of Packers James Lofton and Mossy Cade. Lofton was acquitted, Cade was convicted. Neither man played another down in Green Bay. While the Packers have remained silent regarding Chmura's future, their draft-day actions spoke volumes when they took Miami tight end Bubba Franks with their first-round pick. As the only publicly owned franchise in the NFL, the Packer image is always an issue. What the club does with Chmura could be a factor in whether citizens of Green Bay vote in the coming months to help fund improvements to Lambeau Field. "It affects everything within the organization," says Noble. "Not just the stadium issue, but the persona of the football team and the organization itself along with stadium, along with the draft that just transpired. There's a lot of implications that surround an incident like this." First-year head coach Mike Sherman said he has advised Chmura to spend time with his family.
"I talked to Mark and my suggestion is he spend time with the most important things in his life and that's his wife and his two kids right now." News of Chmura's arrest came on the eve of Wisconsin Sexual Assault Awareness Week, a six-day campaign that culminated recently with a rally and a flurry of questions in downtown Green Bay. "The Mark Chmura allegation I think for us, it gave us an additional boost," said Jeanie Kurka Reimer, director of the Green Bay Sexual Assault Center. "It gave us more focus on the issue. And the questions in the school, all of them, was what about Mark Chmura? What happened there? What's going to happen to him?" Questions that will no doubt grip this community for many months.
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