Smith, meanwhile, was elected despite being in his first season with the team, having signed with the Packers as a free agent in March.

“I think it says a lot about him,” LaFleur said. “I think his teammates respect him. I think he’s about the right stuff. He cares about his teammates. He tries to get them together to do things and he brings it every day in practice. He does a great job.”

Smart move

LaFleur explained his rationale for having the officials enforce the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs for taking his helmet off on the extra point instead of the ensuing kickoff.

While cornerback Tony Brown blocked Vikings kicker Dan Bailey’s extra point, it wasn’t the reason why LaFleur made the decision he did. Rather, LaFleur said it looked like Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was intending to try a 2-point conversion.

“I saw the offense was still out on the field. I thought they were going to go for 2 and I wanted to take that away from them,” LaFleur explained. “I’d much rather take that on the kickoff but with that situation with the potential to make it a three-point game, I said, ‘I don’t want to risk that.’ I’m glad we took the penalty because Tony Brown had an excellent effort and was able to block the PAT.