The Green Bay Packers Board of Directors held a quarterly meeting at Lambeau Field Thursday and made some changes at the top of the organization.  The team is governed by a 45 member board which elects a 7 member executive committe which in turn, chooses a president and chief executive officer.   CEO Mark Murphy announced the executive committee is undergoing a couple of changes because long time board and committee member Peter Platten has reached the mandatory retirement age and will become a member emeritus.  Current committee member Larry Weyers will become the Vice President and lead director and 61 year old Mark McMullen will ascend to the executive commitee as treasuruer.  Murphy also announced three candidates who will be presented to shareholders at the annual meeting in July for seats on the board.   Thomas Cardella, Jeffrey Jorres and Thomas Kunkel would take the spots of three other board members who have reached emeritus status, Robert Buchanan, Virgis Colbert and John Dickens.

While football fans won't notice the changes, the moves are important for the corporation.   The executive committee in particular, has undergone quite a transformation over the past couple of decades.  Time was the group more often than not stuck their noses in the football operations, stunting the ability of the coach or general manager to put a successful product on the field.  Under the guidance of former President Bob Harlan, the committee took on more of a "caretaker" role over the entire operation, concentraing more on the business side of the franchise and community involvement.   Leaving the football operations to football people, as Harlan did with the hiring of Ron Wolf in 1991, and continues today with GM Ted Thompson, responsible for selecting the head coach, the team has been able to remain competitive on the field and financially solvent.