GREEN BAY, Wis. – Fans at Lambeau Field haven’t come up with a cheer befitting Aaron Ripkowski’s name, like they did for his predecessor, John Kuhn.
But Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett offered an apropos description of the second-year fullback’s biggest NFL play to date – a 13-yard run on third-and-1 in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win over the New York Giants that saw Ripkowski churn his way to New York’s 10-yard line, carrying a handful of defenders in rugby-like scrum pushed forward by every member of his offensive line.
“Incredible,” Bennett said. “It’s something we emphasize day in and day out and that’s to finish, cover the football. He did an outstanding job with his balance, breaking tackles. The offensive line was phenomenal as far as pushing that pile and finishing strong.”
In that single run, which can be seen on NFL.com, Ripkowski matched his rushing total from his entire college career at Oklahoma. He carried six times as a senior in 2014 for a total of 13 yards, with a long gain of 5 yards against Texas Tech. Those were his only carries in 39 career college games.
“The only runs I had were the later part of my senior year, and they were always goal line or fourth-and-1,” Ripkowski said. “I didn’t run the ball in high school; I played linebacker and defensive end. So I’d say that’s my longest run.”
Ever?
“Yeah, ever,” he said. “That was fun.”
Like any back would, Ripkowski credited the blockers, who in this case were more like pushers.
“I just kept my feet moving and the other guys behind me just started pushing,” he said. “I didn’t really go down until I felt like the ball got away from me a little bit. So I figured it was smart to get down and not lose the ball at that point in the game.”
Once Ripkowski got through the hole created by right guard T.J. Lang, left guard Lane Taylor and center JC Tretter started to push the pile. Right tackle Bryan Bulaga crashed in, fell down and then got back up and pushed some more. So did left tackle David Bakhtiari and Jason Spriggs, the extra offensive lineman on the play.
“To have an explosive gain on a dive play, that was incredible,” Bennett said.
Ripkowski couldn’t tell who pushed the pile.
“I think the whole team was there,” he said.
It produced one of the biggest cheers of the night and helped set up a field goal that gave the Packers a 23-9 lead with 6:39 left in the game.
General manager Ted Thompson didn’t draft Ripkowski to spell Eddie Lacy or James Starks but rather to become the next Kuhn – a reliable blocker and core special-teams player. Ripkowski studied under Kuhn last season and then took over this year when Thompson decided to part ways with Kuhn after nine seasons.
Fans might still clamor for Kuhn, who already has three touchdowns this season for his new team, the New Orleans Saints, or maybe they just liked yelling "Kuuuuuhn." But plays like the one Ripkowski made Sunday helped him take a step toward endearing himself to the Packers’ faithful. On the NBC telecast of the game, Al Michaels said Ripkowski was “doing his best John Kuhn imitation” on that run.
“It seems like [fans] get excited to see stuff like that; it’s almost like a hometown-hero thing,” Ripkowski said. “Some people say that because we look like a typical unathletic person. I’m not going to go into detail there, but some people like to associate with certain players and they kind of get behind people like that.”