PUT ME IN, COACH. Green Bay Packers Coach Matt LeFleur on the field at Lambeau in October 2021. (Photo by All Pro Reels / CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)

“You think I’m writing these letters for my f****** health?”

So starts an Oct. 10, 2022, letter sent from Matthew Mabis to Matt LaFleur, the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. It’s the day after a particularly wrenching loss by the Packers to the New York Giants across the pond in London, and Mabis is stewing.

“On the contrary, each one of these damn diatribes forces me to relive the foolishness, and the occasional nuggets of positivity offer no relief. I’m hoarse and have a pounding headache from shouting, and you’ve got my stomach tied in so many knots that I’m s******* like the last few squeezes of the mustard bottle.”

On a weekly basis throughout the 2022-23 NFL season, Mabis’ letters – all formally typewritten and mailed to the desk of Coach LaFleur – rarely take an uplifting tone. In fact, most of the time he’s pissed.

In spite of the abysmal 8-9 record the Packers mustered during Aaron Rodgers’ last season wearing green and gold, Mabis’ letters – collected and published in a brand new 120-page book called Letters to Matt LaFleur – are incredibly entertaining. A lifelong Packers fan and former Eau Claire Memorial High School football coach himself, you can practically feel Mabis’ rage in every keystroke as he watches his beloved team royally squander what was supposed to be a triumphant Super Bowl run.
“It was obvious to all fans, even amateur fans, that something was terribly wrong,” Mabis said. “It was joyless football. Wasted potential.”

They’re crass at times, yet eloquent. They can be severe and hilarious. They’re full of great stories, music recommendations, steely football analysis, words of wisdom, elation, and despair.

The 17 letters, clacked out on a Smith-Corona Corsair, are scanned in all their organic glory and presented alongside Mabis’ own 35mm and medium format film photos from trips to Lambeau Field over the past few years. They’re crass at times, yet eloquent. They can be severe and hilarious. They’re full of great stories, music recommendations, steely football analysis, words of wisdom, elation, and despair. “Satirical admiration,” Mabis called it.

LaFleur has yet to respond to – or even acknowledge the existence of – the letters, even though Mabis sent along some stamps and a return address. Wishful thinking. And Mabis, of course, recognizes the inherent creep factor in all this.

“I’m carrying all the weight in our friendship right now,” he said.

The cover of Matthew Mabis' newly published book. (Submitted image)

If the letters convey a certain angst surrounding the season, the photos inversely show everything great about being a Packer fan: the kinship, the beers, the pilgrimage to Lambeau with your homies, the tailgate, Lil Wayne … It’s a nice visual reminder of some of the beauties of Packers-hood, despite the part where the football was kinda dreadful.

It’s funny though. Mabis’ discontent throughout the collection was spicy enough to prompt the Leader-Telegram editorial board to pen a recent piece that name-drops the book with the headline “Dial down the disrespect.” 

MAGIC MEN. Author Matthew Mabis, right, with his brother, Joe, during the Don Majkowski era. (Photo by Ann Mabis)

“Let’s enjoy sports for what they are: games, with pride at stake rather than life-or-death outcomes,” the board writes.

Sure, fair enough. But for what it’s worth – underpinning all the curses, profanities, and all-caps ravings is an obvious and undeniable admiration, both for the game itself and Mabis’ sharp-eyebrowed muse.

“I don’t think it’s possible to read these letters without first recognizing how much I respect him,” Mabis said. “There’s a resounding message in this and it’s that I’m proud of him. I’m proud to be standing and observing this era of Packers history – because it’s his.”

And in case you’re wondering: Yes, the letters continued into the Jordan Love era as well, with Mabis typing away after every game of the 2023-24 season – including the unlikely playoff push. That’s for volume two. And for the future, you just might be able to expect these letters to carry a more optimistic tone. Who knows. 

But if not – even if things go terribly – it’s still pretty fun to read.

You can purchase a copy of Letters to Matt LaFleur at lettersto.xyz.