Aaron Rodgers breaks his silence
doubledragon
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Aaron Rodgers was on the Kenny Mayne farewell show on ESPN and he opened up to Kenny Mayne about the situation in Green Bay, and Kenny Mayne made his exit from ESPN with a bang!
Yahoo Sports
Aaron Rodgers finally spoke about his rift with Packers management. And it’s not good.
Aaron Rodgers has a problem with the corporation's philosophy. That’s what is causing him to stand apart from the Green Bay Packers.
This is how Rodgers summed it up Monday night, appearing on ESPN's "SportsCenter" and breaking his silence on a rift that widened this offseason between the MVP quarterback and the Packers. While Rodgers stopped short of naming names or specific incidents, he did point fairly unambiguously at the Green Bay front office when he described what has caused his impasse with the team. Appearing on "SportsCenter" to celebrate the final show of his friend and longtime ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne, it was the most expansive message to date from Rodgers about his problems with Packers management.
“I think sometimes people forget what really makes an organization,” Rodgers told Mayne. “And, you know, history is important, legacy of so many people who’ve come before you. But the people, that’s the most important thing. The people make an organization. People make a business and sometimes that gets forgotten.
"You know, culture is built brick by brick — the foundation of it by the people. Not by the organization, not by the building, not by the corporation. It’s built by the people. I’ve been fortunate enough to play a number of amazing, amazing people and got to work for some amazing people as well. It’s those people that build the foundation of those entities. I think sometimes we forget that, you know?”
Asked by Mayne if he was demanding a trade, Rodgers didn’t answer, instead turning the conversation into a direction that appeared to point toward general manager Brian Gutekunst. And more specifically, Gutekunst's drafting of quarterback Jordan Love without Rodgers ever having been aware the organization was mulling the idea of taking his successor in the first round of 2020.
“With my situation, look, it’s never been about the draft pick, picking Jordan,” Rodgers said. “I love Jordan. He’s a great kid. [It has been] a lot of fun to work together. I love the coaching staff. Love my teammates. Love the fan base in Green Bay. An incredible 16 years. It’s just kind of about a philosophy and maybe forgetting that it is about the people that make the thing go. It’s about character. It’s about culture. It’s about doing things the right way.”
Rodgers spoke affectionately about working with or for virtually everyone involved with the Packers franchise — but notably left the front office out of that mix. He also conceded something sources close to Rodgers have been saying for months: That Rodgers believed the franchise’s front office was making plans to move on from him sooner rather than later, but that he disrupted that plan by winning the regular-season MVP.
“A lot of this was put in motion last year and the wrench was just kind of thrown into it when I won MVP and played the way I played last year,” Rodgers said. “So this is just kind of, I think, the spill-out of all that. But it is about the people and that’s the most important thing. Green Bay has always been about the people. From Curly Lambeau being owner and founder to the '60s with [Vince] Lombardi and Bart Starr and all those incredible names to the '90s teams with coach [Mike] Holmgren and [Brett Favre] and the Minister of Defense [Reggie White] to the run that we’ve been on. It’s about the people.”
While Rodgers gave no indication of what would resolve the impasse or what the future would bring, he notably has skipped all of the team’s offseason activities to date, including virtual work and the in-person organized team activities that began Monday. His first mandatory reporting date will be June 8. If Rodgers doesn’t show up for that, he will technically be considered a holdout.
Comments
Here's how Kenny Mayne went out. Evidently, Aaron Rodgers once told Kenny Mayne to invest in cryptocurrency and things didn't go too well for Kenny. Check out this video of Kenny's exit.
And Aaron Rodgers failed to report to the first team activities, instead he's been in Hawaii, living it up and singing karoake and hula dancing. Here's the photos to prove it, the story is all over the internet!
His team is getting ready for the next season, and he's in paradise sipping blue hawaii and getting jiggy with it!
Where will we find Mr. Rodgers living it up next, in Mexico? Or perhaps Cuba!
Don't act like you didn't know this was coming!
We here in Wisconsin will tire of Aaron Rodgers fairly quickly. Like everyone that has a job, just do the job and quit whining. If whining is necessary, then find a new job. If drafting a quarterback hurts your feelings (he denies this) that is more of an explanation why you didn't win another superbowl - namely, a lack of personal confidence. Many people do not have the luxury of retirement if they don't like their boss. Suck it up and fulfill your contract or if you feel that you are entitled to breach that agreement, get lost.
Packer fan
Obligatory Pics I knew you would post!!!
I can only imagine you guys must be tired of his nonsense. The guy has the keys to Green Bay and he has to cause an uproar, so apparently he doesn’t like management? Yea Aaron not many of us like management! I also find it weird he is all geeky now with the Star Wars themed shirts and greasy hair? Straight up weirdo if you ask me
I'll never let him slide!
A look at what Aaron Rodgers is probably doing instead of attending Packers team activities.
🤔
Oh god no!
My father always said if you want to know what a woman really looks like, take her swimming. Cough cough. Aaron?
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
That is hilarious!!!! As far as his GF goes obviously he could do so much better but he is totally into the dirty tree hugger look these days
Look at him, living it up in kikiwawi or whatever it's called, while his team is getting ready for battle next season, disgusting!
doesn't have to worry about taking her home to meet Mom.
Man, looking at that photo again, Aaron Rodgers sure has let himself go, he needs to groom himself better. His hair's all greasy and he could use a shave.
I never gave any thought to Aaron Rodgers except as a quarterback. Until now. Seems like a cool dude. "The Chico Kid."......aka....."Renegade Rodgers!"
I dont think he talks to his mom or his family for that matter. I read that somewhere
It sure seems many many big name athletes are becoming unsatisfied with their contracts lately. they all want to change teams due to a dislike of management, to chase rings or restructure contracts for more money. it seems to me, one should honor their contract.
if star athletes are worried about future discontent with a contract, they should just sign one year deals and have all the freedom they want. it seems they want to have their cake and eat it too. they want the security of a long term deal, but the freedom to move around when they want.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I blame the owners and management 100%. If I’m in charge and Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson or even Tom Brady wants to act like this and cause all sorts of drama saying he doesn’t want to play for the team blah blah blah then I’m making 1 statement and that’s “Either play or sit out and don’t get paid” that’s it. End of discussion