I am writing this on Monday, fully expecting Aaron Rodgers to skip the Packers mandatory minicamp, and not having to change a word. It probably shouldn’t come as a “surprise” to anyone that Rodgers is AWOL, and not just because of his tendency to be a “drama” queen; is it another one of those “coincidences” that a day before minicamp, we are learning from Elle magazine that Rodgers and his fiancé, Shailene Woodley, have been engaged and living together for longer than previously known, and consumed with domestic bliss? We also learn that Woodley apparently doesn’t know a whole lot about football, unlike Tom Brady’s Brazilian wife, Gisele; Woodley claims that her dog convinced her to go out with a guy who “throws balls” for a living—but she was “really impressed” by the way Rodgers could throw “fast balls, slow balls, high balls, low balls.”
As I’ve mentioned before, I think that Woodley’s “take” on all of this has a lot more to do with Rodgers’ attitude about returning to Green Bay. Consider: after his infamous postgame interview after the loss the Buccaneers in the NFC title game, in which Rodgers dodged all questions in analyzing the loss, and whined about how he might not be on the team next year, a few days later he “clarified” his views, insisting that he expected to return to the Packers this season. Remember that, blind, deaf and dumb Rodgers apologists? So what “changed” between then and April 29? The “input” of someone who probably didn’t even know what state Green Bay was in before she met Rodgers? If the media is too “coy” to ask Woodley directly, maybe they could get some “inside” information from those who know her about her views on the matter; I mean, look what Prince Harry gave up to make Meghan “happy.”
But even if people don’t want to go there, there are plenty of other reasons to doubt Rodgers’ sincerity or motives. Does he even want to play football again, or even care about winning another Super Bowl? He has a better chance with the Packers with going to a Super Bowl than any of the teams being named as potential landing spots (and yet we are told he has no "weapons," which insults the other players on the team who still will demean themselves by claiming to have this selfish player's "back"). Is the “location” what we are really talking about here, and team management is being made the scapegoat here, by a so-called “elite” quarterback who needs them to explain his failure to deliver? Brett Favre never spent his off-seasons making excuses or bitching about management.
Meanwhile, there is a story about Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians “schooling” the Packers on how you are supposed to treat a diva quarterback, such as by discussing potential draft picks with him. First off, I doubt that Brady watches much college football during the season to properly evaluate talent, so such draft “discussions” are likely superficial and about already agreed upon “needs.” Furthermore, Brady is certainly more “cerebral” than Rodgers, who’d rather have a good time in the fun and sun in Hawaii than evaluate college players, which is the job of team scouts.
What are we talking about here, anyways? It is the same story every off-season with this guy: Rodgers moans about this and that; maybe—just maybe—team management sees him as a natural-born complainer for whom they can’t do anything to please, so why even bother? Again, this guy is consumed by personal grudges, and you can’t expect intelligent, sound decisions from such people. While Rodgers was in Hawaii, what was Russell Wilson doing? He was spending his time working out before eventually reporting to the Seahawks OTAs; it was almost like he was making a point in telling the world “I am not Aaron Rodgers. I am a leader, and I will lead.”
It is useful to remember the criticisms of Rodgers well before this off-season, because they inform us of the hypocrisies we hear today. Three years ago after a 31-17 loss to the Patriots, Colin Cowherd observed that the headlines were saying the team let “him” down again. He begged to differ; Cowherd saw Rodgers’ receivers make great catches on poor passes, such as Marquez Valdes-Scantling leaping over a building to snare a badly overthrown ball. Brady didn’t have Gronk in the game, nor his lead running back. The game was tied entering the fourth quarter, and Brady showed his “clutch”: 6 of 6 passing, 104 yards, a TD and a 158.3 passer rating. Was Rodgers “clutch”? 2 of 7, 15 yards and a 39.6 passer rating.
Cowherd pointed out that since 2011, the Packers had a losing road record during what were Rodgers’ prime years. Apparently he was the only player on the bus or on the plane to play in road games. In those years, he had 7 Pro Bowl linemen, while Brady had just 2. In those years Rodgers had four Pro Bowl receivers; Brady had just one. And yet the Patriots played in three Super Bowls, and the Packers zero. Cowherd noted that he had always said that Rodgers is no Brady; he’s wasn’t even sure if he was a Drew Brees. Brees inherited a team that was a mess; Rodgers inherited a team that was another hair-pulling Favre interception from the Super Bowl. Rodgers was 6-10 his first season as a starter; the one team he did lead to a Super Bowl had a top-five defense.
And then Cowherd noted Rodgers’
body language that was becoming a “tired act.” Of all the “elite” quarterbacks
in the league, only one of them every year takes passive/aggressive shots at
his team’s organization—Rodgers. Cowherd noted the leadership shown by Wilson:
no finger-pointing, no exasperation, no drama, no passive/aggressive. Rodgers
had become predictably dramatic, predictably woe-is-me, always off by himself
on the sidelines, never taking responsibility. What has changed with this guy?
Nothing, so why are all these people giving him a pass now? Adam Schefter thinks that Rodgers is 90 percent of the team? Dominique Foxworth doesn't know that a lot of Packer fans are tired of Rodgers' shtick? These people obviously live in their own bubble world.
After blowing a 19-7 lead late in the fourth quarter of the 2014 NFC title game against the Seahawks, Rodgers seemed to have lost the motivation to play, preferring to blame Mike McCarthy and his teammates for his failure to lead. In four of the next five seasons his level of play was strictly middle-of-the-pack in the NFL, as if he just wanted to get the season over. The drafting of Jordan Love could be said to have been a warning to Rodgers to shape up, motivating him to play better. If Rodgers needs “motivation” to play at an “elite” level, then there certainly is a question if there is anything a team can do to “motivate” such a player. Most players are motivated by the desire to lead and to win; with Rodgers, it is to make sure the “buck” doesn’t stop with him every time he chokes in the playoffs.
As a long-time Packer fan who still thinks the best football game he’s ever seen was the 1983 MNF game between the Lynn Dickey-led Packers and the defending Super Bowl champion Redskins—won by the Packers 48-47 on Mark Moseley’s missed field goal attempt to end the game—I don’t see the world revolving around Rodgers. Yes, he does offer the Packers the “best chance” to return to the Super Bowl at the present time, but four straight failures to deliver has dampened “expectations,” and elicits a lack of trust. It doesn’t really matter to me if he plays for Packers again or not, and I suspect that if he is traded, whoever lands him will discover that he isn’t all that he is cracked up to be by the media, especially under the “influence” of his new domestic situation, if in fact he decides to ever play football again.
Is this Packer fan “divided’? I’ve been “divided” about Rodgers since 2008.
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