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PACKERS SOLVE GUARD 'PROBLEM,' AGREE TO TERMS WITH RALEIGH McKENZIE
posted 02/22/99
The Green Bay Packers have solved their guard "problem" - following Adam Timmerman's departure in free agency - by reuniting San Diego's Raleigh McKenzie with Head Coach Ray Rhodes.
The 36-year-old McKenzie, who played for Rhodes at Philadelphia in 1995 and 1996, has agreed to Packers terms on a multiyear contract, it was announced today, and is expected to replace the departed Timmerman as the team's starting right guard. Timmerman signed a five-year deal with the St. Louis Rams last week.
McKenzie, a member of two Super Bowl champions (in 1987 and 1991) while with the Washington Redskins earlier in his career, has played in 208 games overall - with 177 starts - and will carry a 126-game starting streak into the 1999 season, having started all 16 games in each of the past seven years.
A versatile performer, the 6-foot-2, 283-pound University of Tennessee alumnus has played all five positions in the offensive line over the course of his 14-year NFL career, including right tackle for San Diego last season, where he started for eight games because a broken leg had sidelined starter Vaughn Parker. The previous year, his first with the Chargers, McKenzie started all 16 games at center.
An eleventh-round draft selection by the Redskins in 1985, McKenzie spent the first ten seasons of his career with Washington, joining Rhodes and the Eagles in Philadelphia as a free agent in 1995. Granted unconditional free agency following the 1996 season, he signed with the Chargers February 20, 1997. McKenzie is the twin brother of Reggie McKenzie, the Packers' director of pro personnel.
In another transaction, the Packers have signed quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to a multiyear contract. The 6-4, 217-pound Hasselbeck, a sixth-round draft selection out of Boston College in 1998, spent the regular season on the team's practice squad after appearing in three preseason games, completing 8 of 22 passes for 160 yards and one touchdown, with 2 interceptions.
The Packers also have signed wide receiver Tyrone Goodson as a free agent, and waived linebacker Anthony Hicks. The 6-foot-2, 186-pound Goodson, an Auburn product, signed on with the St. Louis Rams as a free agent April 23, 1998, and subsequently was waived July 9 and out of football for the balance of the year.
Hicks, a fifth-round draft selection out of Arkansas in 1997, spent the past two seasons on injured reserve - the '97 campaign with a quadriceps injury and the '98 season with a triceps problem.
Three Packers were assigned to NFL Europe clubs during the league's allocation process, completed today. They include quarterback Ronnie McAda (Frankfurt Galaxy), cornerback Denorse Mosley (Scottish Claymores) and running back Edwin Watson (Berlin Thunder).
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