Aaron Rodgers on Wednesday responded to a story alleging that he was disrespectful to Brett Favre during the first ever meeting between the men. Rodgers did not mince words and says the anecdote, which alleges he called Favre “grandpa,” is 100 percent false.
“The story that was out there that I saw is completely 100 percent false,” Rodgers said on Wednesday via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.
The story emerged when Bleacher Report published an excerpt from a new book published by Jeff Pearlman about Favre on Oct. 14. The book, entitled, “GUNSLINGER: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre,” asserts the following happened:
Rodgers and Favre finally met on June 2, [2005], when the Packers came to town for a seven-practice organized team activity camp. Now merely a head coach (and a disgruntled one at that), [Mike] Sherman allowed Favre to skip the workouts, but that didn’t mean he would not attend. In fact, that morning Favre was alone, sitting in the team cafeteria and reading a newspaper, when Rodgers saw him in person for the first time. The new quarterback approached the old quarterback and uttered what will forever go down as the worst introductory line in the history of professional sports.
“Good morning, grandpa!”
Silence.
Neither Favre nor Rodgers spoke to Pearlman about the story, but former Packers quarterback Craig Nall corroborated the story.
Rodgers says the facts of the case are untrue.
He says that the first time the two met was on the practice field, and Rodgers says he was stammering and could barely get a sentence out. He does acknowledge he likely called Favre “grandpa” at some point, but he says any instances would have been done in a joking fashion.
“Did I call him ‘Grandpa’ at any time during the three years together? Probably. But it’s in the same joking way that my man Brett Hundley called me ‘Grandpa’ three weeks ago on the field when we were doing a competitive drill.
“The story that was out there that I saw is completely 100 percent false, and I would dare anybody to test my memory on that. You guys know how my memory works. The end.”
Whether or not the details of the story are true is debatable, but we’ve heard the side of one involved party. We also know that there were times when the two were on the Packers together when their relationship had some tension, which is to be expected for a first-round pick trying to take a veteran’s job. But at last check, Favre held no ill will towards Rodgers and all signs indicated they now have a good relationship.
