Jermichael Finley Has Gotten Really Boring

King of the Diarrhea Mouth. That was the Jermichael Finley we knew and… uh… loved? Well, that dude is gone for good, apparently.

Big Fin had his first media session of training camp yesterday and spoke only in cliches. After years of saying whatever thought was in his head — Aaron Rodgers and him have no chemistry, Brian Urlacher is old and slow, etc. — that’s a major change.

Obviously, Finley never saw Bull Durham.

“I’m just happy to be here. Hope I can help the ball club.”

Here’s Jason Wilde’s account of Finley’s Wednesday media session.

Continuing a trend that began during organized team activity practices, the once-loquacious tight end is no more. He has been replaced — at least for now, although he will tell you it’s permanent – with a less controversial, less talkative fellow who stood at his locker for 8 minutes after Wednesday’s training-camp practice and uttered some variation on the phrase I’m just playing football no fewer than 11 times. Other favorite phrases were doing things the right way (five times), doing what I’m supposed to do (three times), getting better every day (three times) and everything will take care of itself (four times).

Good job, Nuke.

Finley later said he’s toned it down because he didn’t like the way people viewed him.

“I would say (the way I was before) wasn’t making me comfortable. I was getting (criticized) on the out(side), I was getting things on the in(side). So why not just do it the right way? I’ve got a career that took off on path that, I mean, I didn’t know being outspoken was going to put me on. Anything I say is big-time, so it’s weird to me.

“But if you play football, everything else will take care of itself.”

We’ve gotta wonder where all of this came from. In the offseason, Finley hired an image management firm. During the 2012 season, there were rumors the Packers were going to release him in the offseason and then Mike McCarthy had a talk with him and he started saying fewer stupid things and playing better.

Oh, and we shouldn’t forget about that incident with his baby mama and the fact that people made fun of him in public.

Sometimes it takes a perfect storm of stupidity to make a person realize they need to change their ways.