Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings was asked to stop talking about his former team a little over a week ago. He lasted about four days, but the next time he brought up the Green Bay Packers it was to compliment Aaron Rodgers and (maybe?) attempt to bury the hatchet. However, the comments he made on Wednesday will probably annoy Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier once again.
In an interview with Paul Allen and Ben Leber on KFAN radio, Jennings spoke about the organizational differences between the Packers and Vikings.
“When I came over here, I was kind of brainwashed,” he said, via Pro Football Talk. “There’s no ‘kind of’ to it. Being over in Green Bay, you’re brainwashed to think anyone in the division is tiers below. And so coming over here I meet the people within the organization and I’m like, ‘Wow, these are really great people.’
‘It’s like everything that you know in Green Bay is like the best, the best, the best, the best, the best. And it’s like total brainwashing. And I think you don’t open your eyes to see what other teams have to offer unless you are in that position.”
Is that an insult? It’s kind of tough to tell. On one hand, the word “brainwash” — which Jennings used several times — typically has a negative connotation. It implies that people aren’t allowed to think for themselves. On the other hand, why shouldn’t the Packers preach greatness to their players given their franchise’s incredible history?
The brainwashing comments are probably connected to what Jennings said about Rodgers having a difficult time holding himself accountable. I don’t know if that is true about Rodgers, but we do know that Jennings is having a tough time moving past his old team. If he can’t learn to ignore questions about Green Bay, he should probably hold off on the interviews for a while.
