Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers points against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on November 27, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Aaron Rodgers got down and dirty about his final years as a Packer, revealing some jaw-dropping anecdotes about his relationship with Brian Gutekunst and Jordan Love.
The marriage of Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay was a beautiful one — until it wasn’t. Rodgers spent 18 years in the Packers organization, the last three of which were embroiled in more drama and controversy than previously thought.
The new Jets quarterback decided now was a good time as any to drop the hammer on his time with the Green Bay Packers, the only home he’s ever known, and he spilled the tea not to long-time buddy Pat McAfee, but The Athletic instead. Rodgers telling his story to an established source? That’s a first.
In Rodgers’ tell-all interview, he discusses everything from his relationship with Jordan Love to his fractured dynamic with general manager Brian Gutekunst. Oh, and he makes some angry accusations along the way.
Here are the three biggest takeaways from Rodgers’ vitriol-laced dialogue:
3. Aaron Rodgers’ relationship with Jordan Love was not as amicable as it appeared
Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre were not friends from the get-go. That much was well-known.
Rodgers’ relationship with Jordan Love appeared friendly on the outside, but there was more hiding beneath the surface.
Was Rodgers content to mentor Love? Sure. Was Rodgers happy about Packers picking Love in the first place? Not so much.
When the Packers drafted Jordan Love in the first round in 2020, Rodgers was taken aback. Immediately after Green Bay’s decision, Rodgers poured himself a glass of tequila and “waited for somebody to call me.”
Green Bay knew Rodgers wouldn’t be happy with the pick and did it anyway, and that selection was in some ways “the tipping point in the nearly two-decade-long marriage between Rodgers and the Packers.” Rodgers told The Athletic that after the Packers drafted Love, he figured he’d only have one or two more years left with the franchise.
Everything Rodgers has said about his relationship with Love seemed to suggest the veteran didn’t mind his mentorship role, and Love himself has also doubled down on his praise of Rodgers being a model teammate.
But the original fact of the matter is that Rodgers was slapped in the face by the Packers’ 2020 draft decisions, and he may have never recovered.