Most people are taking Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers seriously when he says his future with the organization is uncertain. Curiously, Brett Favre does not appear to be one of them.
Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday, Favre downplayed Rodgers’ comments after the Packers’ NFC Championship loss, adding that Green Bay would never do anything to jeopardize Rodgers’ future with the organization.
“I wouldn’t pay much attention to it,” Favre said, via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk. “I think frustration, disappointment, hurt, pain, all were in that soundbite. Look, there’s no way the Packers would do anything to jeopardize losing Aaron, unless Aaron just chooses to retire, which I would be shocked. The guy’s playing better now than he’s ever played, and without him, you certainly wouldn’t have been even close to where you were. And I think the same will go for next year, and really the next few years, if he chooses to play. I wouldn’t pay much attention to what he said. I’ve been there. It’s so — I mean, it hurts. It’s painful. The last thing you want to do is think about next year, because you just had a major disappointment, and that’s what you’re hearing in that soundbite.”
Favre’s take doesn’t make a lot of sense. The Packers already did something to alienate Rodgers by using their first-round pick in 2020 on Jordan Love, his heir apparent at the quarterback position. Favre even said at the time that the pick ran the risk of pushing Rodgers out of Green Bay before his career ended, so it’s not clear why Favre would change his stance now.
Favre was an emotional player who sometimes let his heart rule his head. Rodgers is much more calculated, and he would have been choosing his words carefully. Maybe Rodgers and the Packers stick together, but Favre’s notion that this whole thing should just be put aside as a product of the moment seems to miss the mark.
Photo: Flickr/Arnie Papp via CC-BY 2.0
