'Look good, feel good, play good': Barber Hansel Canady keeps Packers' hairstyles on cutting edge

GREEN BAY — When Hansel Canady sinks into his couch on Sundays to watch a Green Bay Packers game, he doesn’t pay much attention to the helmeted players darting across the screen.

His interest piques when the cameras cut to the sideline. If he’s lucky, the shot will linger on a player without his helmet. He scrutinizes the haircuts typically hidden by headgear.

He dreads seeing unkempt beards, not-so-faded-anymore fades, overgrown hair around the ears.

Why the heck didn’t he come to me for a haircut before he got on TV?

As the barber to the bulk of Packers players, Canady takes ownership over their appearances from the scalp up. But the impact of a fresh cut goes deeper than the follicle. Canady has helped players such as former Packers offensive lineman Kyle Murphy, his first NFL client in 2017, “look good, feel good, play good” on game day.

“I never would've thought,” Murphy said, “my favorite haircuts ever would've been at a place like Green Bay, of all places.”

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Former Packers RB Samkon Gado makes move from NFL to medicine with surgical precision

The night before Samkon Gado returned to Saint Louis University Hospital to complete the last few months of his five-year otolaryngology residency in mid-March, he laid in bed wide awake.

The coronavirus pandemic changed his responsibilities. Instead of focusing on general ear, nose and throat surgeries, Gado prepared to treat coronavirus patients. Otolaryngologists are at high risk of infection because of their specialty dealing with airways.

Restless after a weeklong vacation, he mulled over the risks of returning to the hospital.

“Honestly, I was scared,” the former Green Bay Packers running back said. “I was scared for my family. My wife had just become pregnant. We have a 6-, a 4- and a 2-year-old. I was nervous for their sake. I wasn't as much nervous for myself as I was for the risk of bringing something in the home for them. Irrespective of the precautions I took, that risk was never gonna be zero.”

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'Just be there to listen': Inside the Packers offensive line meeting on racism, need for reform

When the Green Bay Packers convened for meetings one week after George Floyd's death, the team pushed their playbooks aside.

The offensive linemen, like every other position group, typically would have gone through a 45-minute offseason install over Zoom. Instead, the coaching staff gave players an opportunity within their virtual rooms to have conversations about police brutality and other forms of systemic racism.

It was a space for black players to share with white teammates their experiences as black men in America.

“There was no nervousness,” right guard Billy Turner told PackersNews. “There was no thought that the conversation would go in a negative way by any means because I'm fairly close with a lot of the guys in the room. I know their personalities and I know the things that they enjoy, the things that they find passion in. Just getting to know those guys over the past year, it's very evident to me that they care about other people. It doesn't matter the color of your skin. It doesn't matter where you come from. We're all part of one team and one organization.”

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Uniquely-talented rookie Josiah Deguara can do a little bit of everything for Packers' offense

At Folsom High School just outside of Sacramento, California, Josiah Deguara’s teammates called him “push-to-start.”

The nickname didn’t catch on because of the Green Bay Packers’ 2020 third-round pick’s ability to instantly separate at the top of his routes as a receiver. It had nothing to do with his speed off the ball when winning leverage battles as a blocker despite measuring 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds.

He earned it on the rare occasions when he was the one tossing the football.

“He would be our trick play person to throw the ball,” former Folsom quarterback and current Minnesota Vikings backup Jake Browning said. “He always said he didn't need to warm up. He was like a Prius. You just push-to-start and he could throw the ball.”

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Visualizing his path to the pros: Ashwaubenon High School's James Morgan’s journey to the New York Jets

More than 10 years before former Ashwaubenon High School quarterback James Morgan became the first Green Bay native since 1988 to have his named called at the position on the NFL draft’s virtual stage, he distinguished himself on a much smaller one: Wilder Park in Green Bay, a half-mile from his childhood home.

Every day during the offseason of the St. Phillips Falcons club football program, 12-year-old James and his father Brian Morgan ran to the park to work out. On their pilgrimage they pushed a Burley children’s bike trailer, once used to tow baby James but which now overflowed with footballs, cleats and cones.

“Keeping up with him was a challenge, especially as he got older,” Brian, a former St. Norbert College running back, said. “James can be quite fast if he wants to be.”

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No place like home for Packers DL Tyler Lancaster's workouts during coronavirus outbreak

On a typical offseason lower-body day in the weight room, Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Tyler Lancaster throws 500 pounds on a vertical bar and squats for multiple repetitions. The 313-pound undrafted free agent squats 1,000 pounds on an assisted machine. The big guy needs big weights to maintain his strength.

So, Lancaster normally trains at TCBOOST, a 10,000-square-foot facility in Northbrook, Illinois, a half-hour drive from his apartment in Evanston, Illinois. An athlete’s playground, TCBOOST has specialized machines, lime-green waves of synthetic turf and a 60-yard sprint track. It’s the ideal spot for Lancaster, 25, who has worked with owner Tommy Christian since his draft preparation in 2018.

"But now,” Lancaster said, “things obviously have changed.”

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A week in the life of a pro day athlete: How Wisconsin natives train for NFL futures

Follow Minnesota State OL Evan Heim and NIU OL Jordan Steckler, natives of De Pere and Two Rivers, respectively, as they prepare for their pro days.

Athletes and artists: Packers Danny Vitale and Yosh Nijman find joy in making music

Packers fullback Danny Vitale and offensive lineman Yosh Nijman discuss their individual passions for making music and share some of their works.

Off day in Green Bay: How Marquez Valdes-Scantling spends his free time

Packers receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling shares his life at home, including his dog Ace, his affinity for video games and his sneaker collection.

'Yeet' becomes viral buzzword that bonds Packers' offense

After the Green Bay Packers’ win Oct. 27 over the Chiefs in Kansas City, Billy Turner emerged from the showers and maneuvered his way around reporters, teammates and team personnel. As the right guard headed to his stall, he uttered two words just audible over the hum of a winning locker room:

“Yeet, yeet.”

A teammate met his call with a jubilant “yeet” from somewhere across the room. To the uninitiated ear, they spoke in code. But yeet and its myriad meanings are ingrained in the language of the Packers' offense. So much so that offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett slipped the word into a news conference days before the Chiefs game. He donned a T-shirt emblazoned with “YEET” and the Packers’ logo at the lectern.

Yeet is an exclamation. It’s also a verb. Most notable of all its definitions, yeet is synonymous with the Packers offense's approach to the outside zone scheme.

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Packers right guard Billy Turner radiates 'good vibes' in intriguing fashion

Long before he signed a multimillion-dollar contract to block for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, right guard Billy Turner was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2014 NFL draft.

He was released from the team in midseason two years later.

“I was pissed off,” Turner said. “I was not in a great mental place as far as what I was doing for a living with football.

“It was almost like I didn’t want to play, but I loved the game so much and I had to change my mindset. I had to change my mood.”

After signing with the Denver Broncos in 2016, Turner made a conscious choice to radiate positivity. He wanted to bring more energy to his workplace at the football facility, where he spent the majority of his time. The results went beyond his relationships with his teammates — his “good vibes” trickled into his sense of style.

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