(WFRV) – It’s probably a weird feeling to see the four-time AP NFL MVP speak to Green Bay media members on Zoom while decked out in black and gold, even nearly three years after his most recent snaps at Lambeau Field.
But when Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers spoke to members of the Green Bay media on Thursday afternoon, it was almost like he had never left at all, based on the way he spoke of the city and area that he called home for nearly two decades.
Many have referred to the upcoming Sunday Night Football game, one that has been brewing since Rodgers left for an uninspiring two-year spell with the New York Jets, as a revenge game, but the legendary Packers QB couldn’t disagree more.
“What have I got to be avenging here?”
Rodgers called his time in Green Bay some of the best years of his life.
“They paid me a ton of money, I grew up there, spent some of the best years of my life there,” Rodgers said. “I’ve got nothing but love for the organization.”
Rodgers joked about some of those memories, recalling pranks and plenty of other memories, specifically one about being in the back of a pickup truck with a bunch of beer.
“Some of the shenanigans and pranks that we pulled on some of the rookies at St. Norbert’s, it got so crazy that Mike [McCarthy] at one point said, ‘cut that **** out,'” Rodgers said laughingly. “There was a time when we used to fly on a plane with eight first-class seats, and people would just start throwing pillows and blankets at each other.”
Rodgers said that even though he outlasted a lot of the ‘tight-knit’ group he had in his time with the Packers, he feels great about it.
“Damn near everything great in my life is because of my football career,” Rodgers said.
The Super Bowl XLV MVP added this as well:
“My football career starts and will end one day with Green Bay.”
While he never explicitly stated any concrete plan to retire as a Packer, the surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer certainly implied that he will, whenever it is, even saying earlier in the press conference that he will retire as a Packer.
Rodgers also spoke highly of his successor, Jordan Love, recalling the similarity of their situations when each arrived in Green Bay out of their respective draft classes.
“It’s tough when you get the keys because there are a lot of expectations on you, but I think the three years are really beneficial for him as they were for me,” Rodgers said. “It’s a similar career arc, I feel like he started to improve in the second year.”
The former Packer also talked about Love’s childhood, talking about how the 26-year-old has been through a lot, and he’s an easy guy to root for.
Green Bay Nation: Packers win on the road, face familiar QB next
“He’s such a great kid. When you know his story and what he’s been through in his childhood, he’s obviously somebody at the jump that you pull for because of the adversity he’s facing in his own personal life,” Rodgers said. “But the kind of guy that he is, the kind of teammate that he is, I knew that he was set up for success.”
The Packers take on their former quarterback in Pittsburgh on October 26 for a primetime Sunday Night Football matchup.
