Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard has had Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers circled for nearly two weeks now. Why? It’s because of something Aaron Rodgers said rather innocuously.
After the Packers played the San Francisco 49ers in Week 9, Rodgers dubbed the Niners’ Fred Warner the NFL’s best linebacker. That didn’t sit well with Leonard, who said he respects Rodgers, but intends to teach him a lesson this week.
“I seen it as soon as he said it,” Leonard said Thursday, via ESPN’s Mike Wells. “You hear things like that and it gives you extra motivation going to play. [Rodgers has] been in the league for a long time. For him to say that about Fred Warner, they play sometimes twice a year, so my first time I want to leave a mark. Hopefully change his mind on what he said about that.”
Rodgers certainly didn’t intend to slight Leonard or anyone else when he was praising Warner. Leonard, however, is the sort of player who will take just about anything as a sign of disrespect. He took Rodgers’ remark as a slight. We’ve seen him do this before to motivate himself, so we’ll see if Rodgers pays for his comments on Sunday.
