There was a point in time when Aaron Rodgers was untouchable. Many considered him the best quarterback in NFL history, even over Tom Brady. This was because of his insane passing talents and ability to pull the Green Bay Packers out of the fire again and again. He has five MVP trophies. His Hall of Fame bust will be waiting for him five years after he retires. It’s hard to imagine anybody screwing that up. Yet Rodgers is finding a way to do exactly that with what has happened over the past couple of years.
He’s become an outspoken conspiracy theorist, calls random people out for supposed crimes, but there is no proof of them committing them, and seems less interested in the welfare of his team than his own agenda. That was on display again this month when the quarterback skipped the New York Jets’ mandatory minicamps because it conflicted with his plans for his new favorite activity: doing drugs. In this case, it’s ayahuasca, a psychedelic. The fact he is doing this after missing all of last season with an Achilles injury makes it worse. Former NFL quarterback Shaun King had something to say about it all during his interview with Tyler Dunne of Go Long.
Let’s just say the rant went on for quite some time.
In my opinion, he’s become the one of the most selfish and self-centered quarterbacks of my generation. Here’s what I mean by that. Robert Saleh is obviously on the hot seat. Obviously. What more could you do to undermine the soft footing that he’s already on than to miss the mandatory minicamp? That schedule has been out since the Jets finished their season last year. Guys got emailed that schedule right after the last game. So it’s not like he hasn’t known when mandatory minicamp is. I can understand, “I got something to do. OTA’s week two, I’m going to have to miss three of the OTAs. I’ll be there for the fourth day, or I got to come, then I got to leave.” But being so selfish that you can’t reschedule that other thing to be at mandatory minicamp where there’s going to be a lot of media in New York, and you know you’re going to put your head coach, your organization in a difficult spot because now they got to answer questions about why you aren’t here. You don’t think Mike Williams needs those reps with you coming over from the Chargers? All of the stuff you like to do at the line of scrimmage from a signal standpoint, you don’t think these guys need those reps? It was selfish of him. He has known when this date was…
…As premier players in that league, you’re supposed to be an example for the younger guys. You’re supposed to show those guys this league flourishes because we did things the right way. Here’s how we did ‘em. You guys make sure that as you guys are going through your careers, that you hold up these same standards. Not like, “Well, I had something that’s important to me.” What is football? Because I guarantee one thing: If it wasn’t for football, Rodgers wouldn’t have one-quarter of anything that he has right now. This is where I get frustrated with athletes sometimes that have gotten to the big bag. Everything that you have that’s available to you in a lot of ways right now is because of this. So now don’t push this to the side and make it a non-priority. Show it some respect.
Aaron Rodgers might be fighting a losing battle against history.
For the longest time, he was considered the best quarterback of all time. Now, the conversation has shifted to whether he’s even the best quarterback of his generation. From 2008 to 2022, Rodgers was a starter in Green Bay. He won one Super Bowl. Brady won four. Patrick Mahomes won two and didn’t start playing until 2018. If greatness is defined by winning, Rodgers isn’t in their class and is running out of time to prove differently. He turns 41 in December. If he can’t lead the Jets on a deep playoff run this year, the conversations will start about whether he was even the best QB in Packers history.
Brett Favre reached two Super Bowls with them. He also went to an NFC championship with a second team. Aaron Rodgers fought so hard to escape Favre’s shadow. It would be the greatest of ironies if he ultimately ended up achieving less on the grand scale. King is correct. Such a selfish attitude doesn’t reflect well on your priorities. Are you really interested in winning? Is he truly arrogant enough to think he can just turn it on when he wants? It doesn’t work that way. Brady was great because he always made sacrifices for the good of the team. Rodgers won’t do that anymore. It may end up costing him.
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@Slip Knotz Covering sports and covering politics is almost exactly the same. The incestuous nature of the coaching carousel in the NFL is exactly like the revolving door in DC, where relationships are really all that matter. Fresh ideas certainly don’t. Disinformation is as prevalent in the run-up to the draft as it is during every presidential cycle. A QB1 is only as good as his last game; an elected’s primary job is to win their next election. Understanding and interpreting advanced statistics on the field is a lot like understanding and interpreting polling data. NFL owners have contempt for… Read more »
I don’t usually agree with Barry but I enjoy his comments.
What I grow tired of, is trying to skip past people who post politics on here. I like football and other sports to escape from work and politics. Please try not to pollute a good thing.
Everyone is free to write what they want of course. Just saying it can be distasteful when you repeat yourself, off-topic.
I think you’re dope, barry.
The only thing Aaron is top five at is setting sky-high standards for others and then refusing to follow them himself. He is a hypocrite and a liar. He is one of the most contemptible people on the planet, and he is a cancer to any locker room he walks into because in pro football, there is no separating the person from the athlete. I will donate five racks to the charity of whatever pass rusher tears his other achilles.