Packers LB Eric Walden Used Jail Time For Soul-Searching

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Green Bay Packers linebacker Eric Walden spent Thanksgiving weekend in jail after being arrested and charged with disorderly conduct-domestic abuse in an incident involving his girlfriend. The case was eventually resolved with a deferred judgment agreement in February. Walden agreed to 50 hours of community service and regular counseling. Walden said the weekend in jail was exactly what he needed. "It's the first time I ever sat down and did some thinking," Walden told Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Wednesday after the team's organized team activity. "What have I accomplished? Where have I been? You never want anything like that to happen, but at the end of the day, it made me stronger mentally to prepare myself for everything that's going on - the perception and all of that. I'm good now." Walden insists that he has a refreshed perspective and his goal is to start. "Now, man, I feel good. Football is easy now," Walden said. "After going through what I went through last year, I look at it totally different. Football ain't hard. This is fun. That's my approach to it." Sitting in jail and wearing that orange jumpsuit in a court appearance gave Walden perspective in a hurry. "I don't wish that on anyone," Walden said. "Every man can't even handle that. Hopefully I'll be strong enough to get through that. Even if my play fell off a little bit, at the end of the day, I'm a better man."

Source: The Redzone