Packers Q&A with David Bakhtiari

Having worked his way back from a knee injury that sidelined him for the 2020 playoffs, most of the 2021 season and the start of the 2022 season, former All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari had an emergency appendectomy a couple days before the Packers faced the Bears on Dec. 4. A few days later, on Dec. 7, he and his wife had a baby girl, Felix Ann Bakhtiari.

Q: Can you take us through what happened?

A” I thought I maybe strained my ab or had a contusion in my ab. I talked to my wife about it and I was like, ‘If I feel the same pain, I’ll bring it up to the doctors tomorrow.’ So, I woke up the next morning, felt totally fine. Came in here and went and saw (team Dr. Pat) McKenzie and I’m like, ‘Can you check this out real quick?’ He thought I was just messing around. He said, ‘Let me bring in Dr. (James) Ebben.’

Dr. Ebben came in, did a couple tests and he was like, ‘Let’s just rule out the worst-case scenario. Let’s give you a CT scan.’ I was like, ‘OK, Friday’s my big practice day, so as long as I can get it done before so I can practice.’ I go in there, I do the test, waiting for the doctor to clear it and she [Ebben’s assistant) said, ‘The doctor wants to talk to you.’ When that happens, you’re like, ‘OK, what the (expletive) happened?’

They come in and he tells me. Long story short, he said, ‘You’re a couple days away, from what it looks like, and it’s pressing on your abdomen. That’s why you’re having the pain.’ So, I had to go to the surgery. When I woke up, she’s like, ‘We had to do the big surgery because it was leaking.’ She thought I was a week from the CT but she’s like, ‘If it didn’t burst Saturday, you would’ve bursted it Sunday.’

Q: That’s scary. If doesn’t burst on Saturday, you’re playing on Sunday and then what?

A: Then I’m on the field. The scary part for me that people don’t understand is when we have adrenaline going, so much stuff gets covered up. I would probably bet I wouldn’t even know I would’ve bursted it until postgame. I would’ve thought I got hit in the guts and I would have been like, ‘Suck it up. Let’s finish out the game and then let’s figure it out.’

Q: Can you put into words what these last couple years have been like?

A: I think anyone that looks at the journey I’ve been on the last two years, I’ve been put under four times in Jan. 7 will be two years. That’s not cool. I don’t wish that on anyone and I don’t enjoy it but that’s the road, that’s what’s written on my life. Tough times don’t last but tough people do. I’ll keep rolling with it and eventually it’s going to calm down and I can get back to what has been my regularly programmed scheduling of my life.

No matter what happens here at work or anything, the moment I walk through the door, it doesn’t matter what kind of day you’ve had. Chest time’s the best time. Being with my baby girl, being with my wife and family, it’s been a blessing, it’s been great and I love those moments.

With what’s going on outside of my wife and my daughter, people say, ‘You don’t you just want to fast-forward through it?’ But when I spend every second with her, not a chance. I would never want to fast-forward. Every hiccup to yawn to cry to diaper change, those are moments that make it worth it. It’s going to go through and I don’t want to speed it up at all.

Q: How’s fatherhood?

A: Not much has changed, really. My sleep – everyone talks about the sleep, I think it’s a little blown out of proportion. Maybe I have a good baby. She’s amazing. I’m getting six to eight hours of sleep. We had a plan where I was going to go sleep in a different room, but I didn’t really feel like I needed to.

Now, do I sleep all throughout the night? No, I wake up when I hear her wanting to feed and there’s not much I can do. Every now and then, I can help out if she needs me to hold a bottle in the middle of the night. It’s awesome. Chest time’s the best time for me. Big fan.

AT A GLANCE

Number: 69

Position: Offensive tackle

Age: 31

Season: 10th

College: Colorado