GREEN BAY, Wis. - Pat McKenzie has been slowly preparing to pass the torch for some time now.
 
But now the final steps in that process are right around the corner for the 1979 SJU graduate and longtime team physician for the NFL's Green Bay Packers.
 
McKenzie, who took over as the team's doctor in 1991, has been helping to break in his successor, Dr. Michael Ryan, for over two years now. 
 
Beginning this season, Ryan took over as the Packers' head team physician with McKenzie remaining on board as a senior medical advisor. He will remain in that role through the playoffs and the NFL Draft, scheduled for April 23–25.
 
Then he will head off into retirement.
 
"About three or four years ago, I started thinking about how long I was going to keep doing this," said McKenzie, now 68. "I was still feeling great and I thought I'd be here for a while. But it also seemed like it was a good time to start recruiting someone to eventually take my place.
 
"We found this guy down in Birmingham (Ala.) with a great reputation who'd trained with (renowned orthopedic surgeon) Dr. James Andrews, whom I'd done my fellowship with as well. We brought him up for an interview to see if he'd be interested. He was, so we decided we'd have him come up and work with me for a couple of years before it was time for him to take over.
 
"And that's where we're at now."
 
Which means when the Packers travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears in the NFC Wild Card round at 7 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 10), McKenzie will be starting his last stretch.
 
"I can't say I'm excited about retiring," said McKenzie, a former basketball standout for the Johnnies whose son, Pat Jr., is now SJU's head coach. "I've loved what I've done here so much. But I also know that there comes a point when it's time. You don't want to stay too long and risk damaging what you had. 
 
"But it's definitely hard to walk away from something you enjoy so much."
 
McKenzie – who was honored alongside his family prior to the Packers game against the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 27 at Lambeau Field – said he's most grateful for all the great people he's been able to work with over the past 35 years – a span that included three Super Bowl trips and two titles for the franchise. 
 
"That's what I've been reflecting on most as I look back," he said. "The relationships I've had with our team presidents – guys like Bob Harlan and Mark Murphy, who were just phenomenal people. And the interactions with all of our general managers and coaches. There have been differences in all their personalities. But in the end, all of them focused first and foremost on what was best for the health of our players.
 
"Then there's the relationships with the players themselves. I've worked with so many incredible guys here from the Brett Favre era all the way to today. It's been so much fun getting to know each generation that has come through here."
 
One of the most famous names in that group – longtime Packers and current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers – had high praise for McKenzie in an article published on the team's website.
 
"Pat McKenzie is a great man first and a phenomenal doctor second," Rodgers said for the story. "It's hard to think of anyone I trusted more during my time in Green Bay than Pat. Multiple times I went under the knife and had him do surgery on me and multiple times I recovered and came back better.
 
"Pat is a dear friend, a special human being, an incredible doctor throughout his decades with the Packers. He became a close confidante and someone that I really relied on to help me with my decisions around my health. I am really thankful for Pat and his friendship over the years and I'm excited about what is next for him."
 
That praise is echoed by fellow Johnnies who have followed in McKenzie's footsteps and pursued NFL careers.
 
"He and (longtime NFL official Bernie Kukar, a 1962 SJU graduate) were the two guys I looked to when I was in college," said Trent Kirchner '00, the longtime vice president of player personnel for the Seattle Seahawks. "They'd gone to Saint John's and went on to do big things in the NFL. I thought 'Why can't I do it too?' He helped show me what was possible."
 
Ryan Monnens, a 1998 SJU graduate who is now the director of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings, said much the same thing in a 2022 interview.
 
"Dr. McKenzie won't remember this, but he gave a presentation during my senior year at Saint John's," Monnens said.  "He put a slide show together and talked to a number of us, sharing his own experiences. That made a huge impression on me and made me think I had a chance of getting my foot in the door too."
 
McKenzie said he is looking forward to getting the chance to follow Pat Jr. and the Johnnies even more closely now that he's without the time constraints that have sometimes limited his ability to attend games.
 
"That will be nice," he said. "Pat is doing such a great job and I'm looking forward to having the chance to get there even more often. Three of our kids are over there now (in Minnesota), as well as our grandkids, so it will be nice to have the freedom to spend time with them and not have to rush back."
 
First, though, there is a final postseason to look forward to. The Packers enter the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in an NFC field with plenty of SJU connections(including Kirchner and the top-seeded Seahawks and Ben Bartch '20, an offensive lineman with the sixth-seeded San Francisco 49ers –  currently on injured reserve).
 
"It's funny because in a lot of ways this feels similar to the last time we won the Super Bowl (after the 2010 season)," McKenzie said. "Just like this year, we had a lot of guys dealing with injuries during the regular season and we had to go on the road as underdogs in the postseason. But we came together at the right time. This feels like the type of team that might be capable of making a run like that too.
 
"Obviously, there are a lot of other really good teams out there. So you never know for sure what's going to happen. But the potential is definitely there."