March 20, 2023 at 8:44 a.m.
Shoutouts & Callouts
Rodgers throwing shade on Packers' front office on way out of Green Bay
Shoutouts & Callouts
Don't be alarmed. That was just the sound of Aaron Rodgers repeatedly backing the dump truck over the Green Bay Packers' front office.
While Rodgers tried to say the right things about the fait accompli that he will be dealt to the New York Jets when he appeared on "The Pat McAfee Show," he let the world know how he felt about Packers' brass "in so many words."
That's ironic, because he claims the Packers did the same to him throughout the offseason about their desire to have him come back for a 19th season. It was after he saw the light following a four-day darkness retreat that he realized that the Packers were ready to move on.
"It was clear to me at that point, though the Packers were saying the right thing, publicly, that they were ready to move on," he said. "I don't know what changed that or what moved that. Maybe (they thought) 'We need to make a decision here because he hasn't made a decision yet.'"
Rodgers spend a good hour with McAfee, discussing the situation from his point of view, trying to debunk the notion that he was the one holding up the deal with the Jets and that he had given the Jets a list of demands in terms of players to target in the offseason - though the Jets have already snatched one of Rodgers' favorite targets in Allen Lazard in free agency.
On multiple occasions, he professed his love for the Packers as a whole - the franchise, the community and the fans. But just as many times he took what appeared to be jabs at general manager Brian Guteknust and the front office.
It's not the first time the sides have butted heads. After the Packers flamed out in the NFC championship game against Tampa Bay, there was an offseason full of drama regarding whether Rodgers would return. He eventually did, but not after chastising the organization for how it treated its veterans. That's a claim he went back to last Wednesday.
"Look at the track record, from the guy sitting over there (gesturing to co-host and former Packer AJ Hawk), to what happened with Jordy Nelson and (Randall) Cobb and Julius Peppers, Clay Matthews, Brett Goode, on and on and on, just the way of doing things, when I bring it back, that's fine. That's business. But there's a way of doing things that allows the man to dig deep," Rodgers said. "Honestly, that's some of the things I was fighting for a couple of years ago. How can we do a little better. You want to be about family. You want to be about love and taking care of our people, let's put our action where our words are at."
Rodgers claims that the Packers did not want to rush him into a decision entering the offseason but, as the start of free agency loomed, the desire to move on grew. From a public perspective, that jives with what Guteknust and president Mark Murphy have said. Their tone and tenor about Rodgers has changed throughout the offseason, to the point where Murphy spoke of Rodgers in the past tense in a statewide interview during the WIAA girls' basketball state tournament in Green Bay.
Aaron Rodgers may be a number of things, but a dummy is not one of them. So I'm not buying for a minute that he didn't know this eventually was coming. Not when the Packers are in a spot where they have to make a decision about Jordan Love, and whether they pick up the final year of his rookie deal. And certainly not when, as Rodgers said in his own words, he could feel the writing on the locker room wall last season. He admitted wanting to walk off the field with Cobb following a season-ending loss to the Detroit Lions, knowing full well it may be his last time at Lambeau Field in a Packers' uniform.
"I just felt like, I knew that wasn't going to happen, No. 1," Rodgers said when asked by Hawk if his feelings would have been different had the Packers been welcoming of the idea of him returning after he emerged from his darkness retreat. "That just wasn't the sentiment that I felt throughout the season, especially toward the end of the season. Everybody was ready to move on."
OK, then. So here we are. We've come full circle. The Packers needed to see what they had in Rodgers in 2008 when they dealt Brett Favre - ironically to the Jets - after another wishy-washy offseason from the ol' gunslinger about whether or not he wanted to return, which included a retirement announcement. Rodgers himself admitted that he entered his darkness retreat 90% certain he was going to retire.
Recall back to 2008, when Favre did an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, how he discussed the importance of his "legacy." Flash forward 15 years and you've got a Packers QB doing an exclusive interview - and getting high off his own ayahuasca.
"I think my plea is, and I would say this is debatable, but I'm debatably the best player in franchise history. I'm in the conversation for sure," Rodgers told McAfee. "What's not debatable is that I'm the longest-tenured Packer in history. You can debate the first part of it - me, Bart (Starr), Brett, a number of names that have been incredible - but you can't debate anybody's been there longer than me, and nobody's bled Green and Gold like me."
He's not wrong. He's certainly in that conversation. But what's also not wrong is that it's time to move on.
Certainly there will be some Packers fans in the "Aaron Rodgers for life" camp, much as there were those who were fiercely loyal to Favre during his messy 2008 divorce from the Packers. The booing at Lambeau during the 2008 Family Night in the midst of Favre-to-Rodgers transition still rings loudly in my ears.
Then there are those who value the needs of the organization ahead of that of the player - regardless of how important he was in the history of the franchise.
I'm in the latter camp.
In watching Rodgers and Favre play, I much preferred Rodgers' style because it was more surgical with fewer chances. It was less stressful to watch Rodgers play and maybe take a sack than accept the fact that Favre would inevitably throw up a ball that could end up as an interception just as easily as it could an amazing play.
Ironically, the stress with Rodgers over the last few seasons has come mainly off the field. There's stress of being a contender the last several years, only to flame out in the postseason (or, this year in a de facto play-in game in Week 18) has been exhausting. That feeling is doubly so when coupled with conjecture each offseason over whether Rodgers will return, the admitted use of Ayahuasca - a South American psychoactive and entheogenic drink - or his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine.
The latter isn't an argument on my behalf for or against the vaccine, but the public blowback on his stance -especially when he was forced to miss a game in 2021 after testing positive - was exhausting. As a fan, it hurt to see NFL nation take potshots at Rodgers and, by extension, the Packers as a whole.
Emotionally, I'm ready to move on to Love, and willing to accept 6-11, 7-10 or whatever comes of the 2023 season. It will be refreshing, for once, to enter a season with lower expectations and less baggage out of the quarterback room.
That's not to say there isn't love, appreciation and gratitude for what Rodgers has done carrying the torch for the organization the last decade and a half. One day he'll be welcomed back with open arms, likely have his number retired and receive all the honors that were eventually bestowed to Favre.
Certainly how long that takes will depend on what happens from here and if Rodgers, at some point, were to complete the Favre parallels and end up with one of the Packers' NFC North rivals. Irrational as it may be, I still have visions of Rodgers in a Bears' uniform in 2024.
But for now, the relationship between Rodgers and the Packers has run its course, and it's time for him to go. No need to point fingers or make one side out to be the "good guy" or "bad guy." Hopefully Rodgers can finish his career successfully with the Jets and the Packers can find out what they have in Love and move forward as an organization.
Shortly after Rodgers' appearance with McAfee, former Packers' front office executive and sport business analyst Andrew Brandt sent out a series a tweets in which the premise was that Rodgers did the Packers favors with his appearance. He claimed the interview further worked the Jets' fan base into a fervor and, therefore, put more pressure on the Jets to get the deal done. That, he claims, gives the Packers more leverage in the deal, which apparently is the sticking point.
"I haven't been holding anything up at this point. It's been the compensation the Packers are trying to get for me and kind of digging their heels in," Rodgers said, adding later in the interview, "You've got an aging face of the franchise for the last 15 years that it's time to do right by."
I'll defer to Brandt, as he knows more about an NFL front office than I could ever dream of, but Rodgers way of "helping" sure doesn't come off as very flattering to Packers' brass.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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