Aaron Rodgers seemed genuinely distraught when the Green Bay Packers fired head coach Mike McCarthy last season, but there are more than a few reasons to believe the Pro Bowl quarterback was not sad to see him go.
In an explosive piece that provides an inside look at the relationship between Rodgers and McCarthy, Tyler Dunne of Bleacher Report spoke with sources who say Rodgers held a grudge against McCarthy for passing on him in favor of Alex Smith when McCarthy was the offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers. Rodgers apparently also became frequently frustrated with McCarthy for what he perceived to be a lack of football knowledge from the coach.
“Mike has a low football IQ, and that used to always bother Aaron,” a source told Dunne. “He’d say Mike has one of the lowest IQs, if not the lowest IQ, of any coach he’s ever had.”
The same source said Rodgers used to call him regularly to vent about McCarthy frequently calling the wrong play and using plays that hardly ever worked in practice.
Former Packers running back Ryan Grant confirmed that Rodgers never fully got along with McCarthy, and that had a lot to do with McCarthy at one point thinking Smith was a better QB.
“Aaron’s always had a chip on his shoulder with Mike,” Grant said. “The guy who ended up becoming your coach passed on you when he had a chance. Aaron was upset that Mike passed on him — that Mike actually verbally said that Alex Smith was a better quarterback.”
Another longtime Packers player called the dynamic between Rodgers and McCarthy a “longtime cancer in the locker room.” A Green Bay personnel guy added that it is difficult for a quarterback who thinks he’s smarter than his coach to respect the coach.
Rodgers opened up about his relationship with McCarthy shortly after the coach was fired, and he made it seem like the two were close. Even if there was truth to that from a personal standpoint, the way Rodgers openly questioned Green Bay’s offensive approach and supposedly butted heads with McCarthy over play-calling said an awful lot. The latest just confirms what many already knew.
