By now, any football fan has heard about the Bleacher Report article on the McCarthy-Rodgers “feud.” If you haven’t, here’s a quick synopsis. In the middle of all the media coverage, the only person who has come to Aaron’s defense has been… Aaron Rodgers? Well, let’s take an in depth dive about this “smear campaign,” as Aaron put it.
The Sources
This article, taking a deep dive into the Packers “dynasty that never was,” had to have some good, credible sources to paint the full picture, and boy did it. Players like Greg “Put the Team on his Back” Jennings, Jermichael Finley, and… a lot of unnamed, former teammates. In an article published during the offseason, in which Mike McCarthy currently doesn’t have a job and Aaron Rodgers isn’t preparing for a game later in the week, it’s odd to see quotes from neither of them. Even weirder is the only two players who would be named, are already vocal about Aaron Rodgers’s deficiencies as a leader. Ok, two former key pieces and a bunch of literal no-name former teammates. What’s the worst they could say?
Aaron Rodgers the Addict?
One of the most ridiculous things out of the article came from Jermichael Finley. Finley said, “A-Rod wants his… He cares about his yards, his completions. He’s going to have a hard time… That’s like an addict. You tell an addict to change his ways when he’s been stuck in his ways so long. I think it’s going to be very tough.” Wait, a quarterback cares about his stats? Color me shocked. I agree with Finley to a point, you can’t have a quarterback put personal stats over team success. You know what’s worse than that though? A quarterback who just doesn’t care. The QB is so central to an offense, when Aaron Rodgers does well, the Packers do well. While Finley’s comments have some basis in reality, they are a poor argument for saying Rodgers is the problem. On the other hand, Greg Jennings had some more concrete comments about the drawbacks of having Rodgers as your QB.
In 2012, Greg Jennings was in a contract year, and during a game against the 49ers, he was mostly running short routes. When jokingly asked about it by CB Carlos Rodgers, Jennings replied “You know how it is… contract year.” Now, during a timeout players will joke around, but Aaron told Carlos, “You guys should get him at the end of the year.” This has some more weight to it (in my mind) than Finley’s comments. At this time, Jennings was coming off of two consecutive pro bowls, and was on of Green Bay’s stars. When your quarterback tells another team to sign you, regardless of if he meant it as a compliment, it comes across as “I don’t want him.” This one is hard to defend, as Rodgers needs to know better than to basically write off his teammate mid-season.
What About his Former Coach?
It seems as if a lot of ex-teammates (both named and unnamed) dislike Aaron. The article goes in depth about a McCarthy-Rodgers feud, but as I mentioned earlier, no quotes from either. The other day, Aaron spoke up about McCarthy. The article went in on Rodgers, saying he thought McCarthy was “an idiot,” and held a grudge for watching McCarthy (the 49ers OC at the time) take Alex Smith first overall, while Rodgers fell down the draft board. The other day, however, Rodgers sure had some nice things to say. In a quote (published in a story on NFL.com), Rodgers said, “We had 13 years, four NFC championships, one Super Bowl, eight straight playoffs, 19 straight wins. So, instead of trashing this guy on the way out, let’s remember the amazing times that we had together.” Regardless of how Aaron Rodgers the player feels about McCarthy, Aaron Rodgers the person doesn’t wish ill upon him.
Now, of course, Rodgers has to say this. He cannot go out there and say “the report’s right, he’s an idiot and I hate him.” At the same time, he did comment on it, and it doesn’t matter how much he meant those words. He wants people to treat Mike McCarthy with the respect he deserves for the run Green Bay had during his tenure.
Does This Impact Aaron’s Legacy?
Hell no. Aaron Rodgers is a first ballot Hall of Famer, and one of the most gifted quarterbacks to ever step on a field. In the Bleacher Report article, he’s described as “sensitive.” Great. Former teammates don’t like him? Great. Notice how once Jennings left Green Bay, he never made another Pro Bowl. Now, before you point out his hernia in his last season on the Packers, look at Greg’s stats over the course of his career.
Greg Jennings simply wasn’t good without Rodgers. Maybe Rodgers told Carlos Rodgers the 49ers should sign Jennings because he was joking around and trying to compliment Jennings’s skills. However, maybe Rodgers realized Jennings simply wasn’t that good, and the Packers could find a cheaper option. With this in mind, Aaron’s beef with Jennings has some validity to it, but also indicates Rodgers might not have been completely wrong (kind of a jerk, but not wrong.) Some teammates dislike Rodgers, but do these issues put all the blame on Rodgers?
Was Coaching the Issue?
As Rodgers put it, in 13 years with McCarthy, the Packers were in the NFC championship 4 times, won a Super Bowl, made the playoffs eight consecutive times, and won 19 straight games. McCarthy wasn’t a horrible coach, but he wasn’t great either. Any good quarterback gets a say in the offensive plays. As time went on though, it became apparent to Aaron that McCarthy did not know what plays to call, and Rodgers seized more and more control over the offense. For example, this throw down the stretch in a 2017 game was drawn up by Rodgers.
Quarterbacks have to ad lib on plays, it’s essential to the job. However, a quarterback completely taking the reins and running the offense is almost unheard of. Towards the end of the McCarthy era, Rodgers was calling the shots on offense. At the same time, McCarthy liked to think he was the reason for a quarterback’s success, described as wanting “to be The Guy. He wanted to be The Reason. And he wasn’t that good.” Rodgers saw this before anyone else, and did what he could to keep Green Bay winning. The article is very critical of Rodgers. It says he is a bad leader. He is overly sensitive. He is self-centered. All of these things are true to a degree. With that being said, Aaron Rodgers is still not the issue. Green Bay’s success is due to Aaron Rodgers. With a better coach, who knows how many rings he could have.
