Aaron Rodgers is not here for the nonsense.
Last week, a damning article from Bleacher report circulated around the web that dove into the dysfunction of the Packers while Mike McCarthy was head coach and it revealed a bunch of former teammates that were turned off by Rodgers.
Anounymous players as well as Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley all had some things to say about their former quarterback during their time in Green Bay.
“So there was Jennings, a Viking himself in 2013. He could tell Packers receivers were scared just to say hello with Rodgers likely hyper-analyzing their every move from afar. To him, that’s sad. It shouldn’t be like this. He sees the relationship Brady has cultivated with Julian Edelman, with all of his receivers, and says, ‘Everyone wants that.’ Those two spend time together off the field, and it carries into what matters on the field. Brady builds bonds for life, and that can be the difference between division titles and Super Bowls.”
“A-Rod wants his. He wants to eat. He cares about his yards, his completions. He’s going to have a hard time. … That’s like an addict. You tell an addict to change his ways when he’s been stuck in his ways so long. I think it’s going to be very tough. I thought he’d be able to grow out of it, but, (expletive), you give a guy more money, there’s more attitude, more diva-ness…”
On Monday, the Green Bay Packers quarterback sat down with Jason Wilde and Mark Tauscher of ESPN Milwaukee and fired right back at everybody who had something negative to say about him.
The full quote:
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
“The two main things I think I really want to talk about and just clear up, which are really central themes to the article, the first is the [Packers CEO] Mark Murphy conversation because part of the article seems to want to say the Packers are worried about me as the leader of the football team moving forward,” Rodgers said. “And before I get into what actually happened in the conversation with Mark, I want to say two things: One, if they knew that, why would they offer me a contract last year? And two, which goes into my second central thesis point that I’m going to take down, is if I really disliked Mike [McCarthy] so much, why would I re-sign knowing that if I play and we do what we do around here — we made the playoffs eight straight years and then I got hurt and we missed the playoffs — it’s going to be me and Mike my entire career. So if I really disliked him that much, do you think I’d re-sign. Is the money that important to me? I’ll tell you it’s not. Quality of life is important.”
As far as his relationship with his ex-coach:
His full quote:
“I think we need to honor Mike and respect him the right way,” Rodgers said, via Demovsky. “We had a hell of a run. We had 13 years, four NFC championships, one Super Bowl, eight straight playoffs, 19 straight wins. . . . So, instead of trashing this guy on the way out, let’s remember the amazing times that we had together. Packer fans, remember this, especially those of you who live in Green Bay: Mike lives here. Mike has young kids here. So Mike has to be here. Think about how difficult it is for him. My favor that I would ask of you, strongly, is if you see Mike, shake his hand. Tell him thanks for the memories. Tell him thanks for the coaching job that he did. Tell him how much you appreciate him being a part of what we built here. Things change from ‘06 to ‘18. We came off of a bad season in ‘05 and we built something special and had sustained success, so instead of trashing this guy on the way out — last year was tough, no doubt about it — but let’s honor him and his legacy as the second-winningest coach in Packers history. If you see him, please, just show him the respect that he deserves. Not only does he have to live in Green Bay, he wants to. He loves it here. He’s going to be here. So, if you see him, do him that favor and show him the respect that he deserves.”
Rodgers on voicing his displeasure publicly about the team’s offense after a lackluster win over the Bills:
“I wish I hadn’t said anything after the Bills game last year,” Rodger said, via Demovsky. “I wish I had just gotten with him in person. I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful to him but I know how it came off. That’s what I told him when I met with him face to face.”
In hindsight, it was best for Rodgers to respond to these allegations as soon as possible, because it would’ve most certainly followed him into the 2019 season and bee a distraction for a team that is trying to turn it around after 2-straight seasons with no postseason.
