Good afternoon, everyone. On The Pat McAfee Show this afternoon, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers said that his intention is to be with the New York Jets for the 2023 season. Before that, he went into a darkness retreat in which he was considering retirement. After the retreat, he changed his mind and wanted to play again. This is a tough pill to swallow as I consider Aaron Rodgers as my favorite quarterback to ever play the Green and Gold. Before I move on to the next era of Green Bay Packers football (one led by Jordan Love), I wanted to show my thanks to Aaron Rodgers by giving you a history of what he accomplished with the Packers
Aaron Rodgers was drafted in the first round of the 2005 draft by Green Bay GM Ted Thompson to be the eventual replacement of Brett Favre. His first three years were spent on the bench as the Packers went 4-12, 8-8, and 13-3 in those seasons with Favre under center. That third year, 2007, was also a chance to prove that he was the heir apparent. When Favre was injured against the Cowboys at old Texas Stadium (a place in which the Packers never won at), Rodgers came in and confidently led the Packers to a couple of touchdowns. Even thought the Packers lost by 10, Rodgers convinced everyone that he was the next franchise QB for the Packers. After the 2007 season ended in heartbreaking fashion against the Giants in the NFC Title game at Lambeau Field, Favre announced that he was retiring from the NFL.
That was until July of 2008, when Favre had a change of heart and wanted his job back, even though the Packers clearly moved on to Aaron Rodgers as the starter. After a wild July and early August, Favre was traded to the Jets. With that headache out of the way, Rodgers started his first year well. He threw for 4,038 yards and 28 TDs compared to 13 picks on the season for a passer rating of 93.8. As a team, the Packers struggled defensively and lost 10 games in 2008. He won the Packers fans over during the season with a Lambeau Leap in Week 1 after being booed at Family Night the month prior (most of those fans wanted Brett back). The next season, the Packers improved to 11-5 on the season as Rodgers had a stat line of 4,434 passing yards, 30 TDs, and 7 picks (passer rating of 103.2). 2009 was also the year in which Rodgers and the Packers had to face Brett Favre twice. That season, Favre joined the NFC North Rival Minnesota Vikings, who swept the Packers in ’09 and nearly made the Super Bowl (lost in OT to the Saints). As for the Packers, their season came to a heartbreaking end in OT against the Cardinals in what still is the highest scoring playoff game in NFL history: 51-45.
The 2010 Green Bay Packers season is still talked about today. 15 players went on injured reserve, including Ryan Grant, Jermichael Finley, and Nick Barnett. Yet even with all of those injuries, plus 2 concussions suffered by Aaron Rodgers (against Washington and Detroit), the Packers never lost a game by more than 4 points. Flip some of those losses over and the Packers could have been division winners. They made the playoffs at 10-6 and the NFC’s 6th seed. They won three straight games on the road, with each game having a crucial interception. Against the Eagles, Tramon Williams intercepted a pass from Michael Vick in the final minute that sealed the 21-16 win. Against the Falcons, it was Williams who picked off Matt Ryan and ran it back for a touchdown at the end of the first half that blew the game wide open. That game is still Aaron Rodgers’ finest playoff performance as he threw for 366 yards on 31/36 passing and 4 total touchdowns (3 through the air, one on the ground). Against the Bears, Rodgers struggled, but the defense saved him with two crucial INTs in the fourth quarter. The first was the BJ Raji pick six and the second one was the pick that sealed the game by Sam Shields. With that, the Packers were on to Super Bowl XLV against the Steelers. In that game, Rodgers played great with 304 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. That stat line would have been record breaking had it not been for some drops by the receivers. The key defensive plays were the Nick Collins pick six and the “Spill it, Pickett” play by Clay Matthews on Rashard Mendenhall. That fumble was recovered by Desmond Bishop, and the Packers capitalized on it with Rodgers’ final TD pass of the game. Later in the fourth quarter, Rodgers made a pinpoint throw to Greg Jennings on third and 10 that continued the Packers drive and led to a field goal by Mason Crosby. One defensive stop later and the Packers won by the score of 31-25 for their 13th World Championship.
In 2011, the Packers went on a tear, winning their first 13 games en route to a 15-1 regular season record. Aaron Rodgers won his first NFL MVP award, finishing the year with 4.643 passing yards, 45 TDs, and only 6 picks for a passer rating of 122.5. Unfortunately, the Packers went one and done in the playoffs as they lost to the Giants at Lambeau Field by a score of 37-20. The next two seasons both ended with playoff defeats to the 49ers. The game before the loss to the Niners in the 2013 season ended with a bang. Coming back from a shoulder injury, he led a comeback victory against the Bears that culminated with a 4th and 8 touchdown pass to a wide open Randall Cobb that gave Green Bay the 33-28 win (kudos to John Kuhn for the block on Julius Peppers). The 2014 season became Aaron Rodgers’ second MVP season, as he finished with 4,381 passing yards, 38 touchdowns, and only 5 picks. As a team, the Packers finished 2014 with a 12-4 mark and their 4th straight NFC North title. In the playoffs, Rodgers had a clutch comeback performance against the Cowboys on one good leg (he had a calf injury a couple of weeks prior). A week later, Rodgers struggled and the Packers had their most heartbreaking loss in the era as they gave up a 19-7 lead in the final minutes and lost in OT to the Seahawks. Instead of going to the Super Bowl, the Packers had to go home disappointed for a fourth straight year. The following season ended in OT against the Cardinals in the second round of the playoffs. Before the heartbreak, Rodgers had two Hail Mary passes that went for touchdowns in the 2015 season. Against the Lions the week after Thanksgiving, Rodgers completed a pass that almost hit the rafters of Ford Field and fell into the hands of tight end Richard Rodgers and gave the Packers the 27-23 win. Against the Cardinals in the playoffs, Rodgers completed two big passes to Jeff Janis that converted a fourth and 20 and scored the game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter.
In 2016, the Packers struggled through the first 10 games and stood at 4-6. Before Green Bay’s game against the Eagles on Monday Night Football, Aaron Rodgers said at his locker that the Packers could “Run the Table.” Over the last 6 games of the season, the Packers did just that. When the regular season was done, the Packers were once again NFC North champions with a 10-6 record. Rodgers finished the season with 4,428 passing yards, 40 touchdowns, and 7 picks for a rating of 104.2. Rodgers led the Packers all the way to the conference title game with wins over the Giants and Cowboys. Against the Giants, Rodgers made a Hail Mary touchdown pass to Randall Cobb that caused the crowd at Lambeau to go crazy. Against Dallas, Rodgers made a sideline pass to Jared Cook that set up the game-winning field goal by Mason Crosby. Unfortunately, the Packers’ season ended in a blowout loss to the Falcons in Atlanta. 2017 went disastrous due to Rodgers suffering a broken right collarbone in Week 6 that caused him to miss all but one game for the rest of the season. Without Rodgers, the Packers went from 4-1 to 7-9 on the season. 2018 was almost a repeat of the previous season when Rodgers went down against the Bears in the first half of Week 1. However, he came back on one good leg and led a comeback victory that culminated in a 75-yard catch and run TD by Randall Cobb with a little over 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The bummer was that the season ended without a playoff berth as the Packers finished with a record of 6-9-1 and Mike McCarthy was fired with 4 games left on the year in early December of that year.
In the 2019 offseason, Green Bay hired Matt LaFleur to be the next head coach of the Packers. That season was not the best statistical year by any means for Rodgers, but the team finished with a 13-3 regular season record and another trip to the playoffs. The defense sacked the heck out of opposing quarterbacks, including 3.5 sacks by Za’Darius Smith that helped the Packers clinch the NFC North over the Vikings in the penultimate week of the season. In the playoffs, Preston Smith got a clutch sack of Russell Wilson that, coupled with two clutch passes by Rodgers, helped seal the 28-23 win over the Seahawks at Lambeau Field. The week after saw the Packers season end with a blowout loss to the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. 2020 was a fantastic season for Rodgers and the Packers, even though the COVID-19 pandemic made Lambeau Field (and every other stadium in the NFL) mostly empty of fans. Once again, the Packers went 13-3 and Rodgers won his third MVP award after a season which saw him throw for 4,299 yards, 48 TDs, and 5 picks for a passer rating of 121.5. In the playoffs, the Packers won against the Rams in the divisional round but lost to the Tom Brady-led Bucs in the NFC Title game. Twice in the second half, Rodgers wasn’t able to capitalize on a Jaire Alexander interception. Also, the offense came up short on a couple of goal-line situations and suffered 2 turnovers. It did not help that Rodgers got sacked 5 times by the Bucs defense. The loss of David Bakhtiari right before the Week 17 game against Chicago was part of the reason why the O-Line struggled against Tampa Bay. The 31-26 loss ended the Packers’ season one game short of the Super Bowl once again.
In the ensuing offseason, there was controversy surrounding Aaron Rodgers and whether or not he’ll come back. Luckily, he did come back and led the Packers to another 13-win regular season and a second straight MVP award. During the 2021 season, Rodgers passed Brett Favre for most touchdown passes in franchise history on Christmas Day against the Browns. He finished the 2021 season with 4,115 yards and 37 touchdowns compared to 4 picks and a passer rating of 111.9. In the playoffs, the Packers came up short against the 49ers at a snowy Lambeau Field. The Packers had the game won with a big 4th down stop by Rashan Gary with a few minutes to go. All the offense had to do was get a couple of first downs and run out the clock. Unfortunately, the Packers gave up the game due to a blocked punt TD and a failed attempt to stop the Niners from getting in field goal range and winning the game via Robbie Gould. During the 2022 offseason, the Packers gave Rodgers a contract extension in the hope that Rodgers would retire as a Packer. During the 2022 season, things did not go as well as they thought. It did not help that Rodgers’ favorite target, Davante Adams, was traded to Las Vegas a little after the Rodgers extension occurred. It also did not help that the defense was unable to stop opposing teams from gaining yards with ease. In Week 5, the Packers gave up a 20-10 lead to the Giants in London. To add salt to the wound, Rodgers broke his thumb after being tackled from behind while attempting to throw a Hail Mary. All through the rest of the season, he had to play through that bad thumb (plus a rib issue in Week 12 against the Eagles). There were some awesome moments for Rodgers in that year, including his comeback victory in Week 10 over his former head coach (which I was there in person for). The Packers nearly made the playoffs in the 2022 season. Had they not laid an egg against the Lions at Lambeau, they would have been the 7th seed. I’ll be realistic here: even if the Packers made the playoffs, they would have not made it past the first round. There were too many things against them, including injuries and a bad defense.
And now we come to the end of the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay. I know that the trade is not fully official yet, but it will eventually happen. I will miss everything about Aaron Rodgers on the field. He gave me (and every other Packers fan) extreme highs of spectacular play. He took great care of the football and made sure that he was not picked off too many times. I wanted him to get more Super Bowl victories after his first one in 2010. The best chances for the Packers to get him more rings were in 2014 and 2020, in my opinion. Unfortunately, they came up short in every year after 2010. Even with the missed opportunities, I am thankful for all of the great memories that Rodgers gave me over the years. I was able to see Aaron Rodgers play in person three times: 2008 against the Bucs in Tampa Bay, and twice in 2022 at Lambeau (against Dallas) and Miami.
To conclude, I want to say this to Aaron Rodgers: Thank you so much for everything that you accomplished with the Packers and best of luck to you with the Jets. See you in Canton. Once a Packer, always a Packer. Go Pack Go!
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