Valders High School graduate and Whitelaw native Luke Goedeke is coming home, so to speak, this weekend as the Packers host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field.
We asked Luke how he feels playing against the Pack, and his answer may shock you a bit.
“To be honest, I was more of a Patriots fan growing up because of Tom Brady,” he admitted. “I had to be a little bit of a Packers fan living in Wisconsin, but I’m just grateful for whoever I can play for.”
Picked 57th overall in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Luke became a Buccaneer via UW-Stevens Point and Central Michigan.
He suffered a shoulder injury while at Point, almost causing him to quit football.
But he hung in there, transferring to Central Michigan, and as they say, “the rest is history.”
He switched to Right Tackle for 2023, and Luke says, so far, good.
“I switched back to right tackle, which I played did in college, and I’ve found a lot of success playing there in the last year,” he explained. “I’ve been developing well as the season progresses and look forward to building on that and my fundamental skills through the remainder of the season. I’m striving to get better each day and play good football.”
Goedeke says he’ll be matched up against one of the best, if not the best, pass rushers on the Packers in Rashan Gary.
Gary has become the unspoken leader of a strong, young, and hungry defense.
Goedke says he and his Buccaneer teammates will have their hands full on Sunday.
“They are a solid football team that can’t be overlooked,” he said. “They have solid wins recently over the Lions and Chiefs and a tough defense. It’ll be a tough matchup on Sunday.”
Adding intrigue to Sunday is that both teams are 6 and 7 and looking to keep NFC playoff hopes alive.
Luke likes this matchup with The Pack and says, “We know what we’re capable of, and we haven’t shown our true potential yet. There’s no better way to do it than down the stretch, so I’m looking forward to what this team can do.”
Kickoff is noon Sunday.
