GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Matt LaFleur has created a full-time, year-round minority fellowship on the Green Bay Packers coaching staff, and the first person to hold the job has a connection to both the second-year head coach and quarterback Aaron Rodgers: He has caught passes from both of them.
LaFleur tabbed former NFL receiver Ruvell Martin, who had LaFleur as his quarterback at Saginaw Valley State before he began his career with the Packers in 2005.
Martin, who entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Chargers, played in 82 career games for four different teams. Half those games came in three seasons with the Packers (2006-08). He quickly became friends with Rodgers and caught a touchdown pass from him in 2008, which was Rodgers' first year as a starter.
LaFleur created the position for "young and aspiring minority coaches," the team said. Martin will work with the offense, coordinated by Nathaniel Hackett, and will assist first-year receivers coach Jason Vrable.
The Packers previously had hired minority coaching interns for training camp but not for a full season. In 2018, they had three former players -- Jarrett Bush, Nick Barnett and Brandon Jackson -- as coaching interns as part of the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship Program.
