It's hard to believe that Aaron Rodgers was passed over by so many teams. (Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE)
It’s talked about often, the words quarterback Aaron Rodgers said in 2005 when he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers with the 24th pick in the draft.
The run-up to the draft featured frequent debates whether the San Francisco 49ers, selecting first, would take Rodgers or Alex Smith. It was a nervous time for Rodgers. He’d grown up in Chico, Calif., as a 49ers fan. Along with his brother, they did what kids do when they play football in the back yard, pretending to be pro players. In this case, as Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin.com tells it, those players were Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jerry Rice.
Thus, it wasn’t surprising after he was passed over by the 49ers, that Rodgers would be asked by a television reporter: “How disappointed are you that you will not be a 49er?” Rodgers’ succinct 13-word answer?
“Not as disappointed as the 49ers will be that they didn’t draft me.”
Now, ironically, Rodgers is set to lead the Packers against the 49ers this weekend in Candlestick Park, and Smith will be on the sideline after being replaced by Colin Kaepernick as the starter.
Asked this week about those 13 words on his local radio show, Rodgers said, “I don’t have the same feeling that I did. That interview was right after I did my interview at the podium, back behind the Green Room. I’d been picked probably 20 minutes earlier. It was an emotional day, a long day.
“At the time, I wanted to play right away that day and prove the other 22 teams that passed on me that they’d made a mistake. I look at it differently now. This is where I would have wanted to be had I known then what I know now – about the kind of working environment that this is, the opportunities I would be given, the coaching staff that was going to be here. I mean, I interviewed with Mike McCarthy. He was in San Francisco.”
That’s further irony. McCarthy was then San Francisco’s offensive coordinator, and left after the 2005 season for Green Bay. Want more? The 49ers’ head coach was Mike Nolan, now Atlanta’s defensive coordinator. If the Packers beat San Francisco and the Falcons beat Seattle, Nolan will be charged with finding a way to stop Rodgers in a game that will determine who will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
Rodgers concluded, “If they pick me, both our lives are changed. What would have happened had they picked me and things been different? I don’t like doing the whole what-if game. I just know I’m really glad that I fell into God’s Country here in Wisconsin and had the opportunity to spend my early years the way I did and now gotten the opportunity to be the starter and play for this team.”
Oh, by the way. As for “being over” what happened in 2005, last year while accepting the NFL MVP award from Peyton Manning at a pre-Super Bowl event last year, Rodgers noted that Montana, Young and Rice were in the audience. He said, “Big Niners fan as a kid. Thanks for drafting me.”
He now says that was just “a little humor. I was a little nervous up there with Peyton Manning and everybody looking at me. I just don’t do great in those situations.”
However, Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings isn’t buying it. He told Wilde, “Knowing him and how he is, he’s definitely thought about it. This is a chance to stick it to the team that could’ve drafted him. This is his chance to say again, ‘You were wrong.’ I’m sure it’s in the back of his mind. I don’t think he’d say so. But it’s definitely something that he probably would love to do.
“His memory is unbelievable. I find it very impressive that he’s able to use that as fuel and actually utilize that. A lot of guys can take that and can try to use it as fuel and it’s hurting them because they’re carrying too much of it and they let it affect him. But him, it drives him. It drives him.
“When somebody tells him he’s not as good as some other guy, he won’t say anything about it. But he may subtly throw out a comment, and he means every bit of it.”
So, who do you like?
Speaking of the Packers
In the playoffs following the 2010 season, the Packers won three straight road games to advance to the Super Bowl. Including those games, and through the 2012 season, the Packers are 14-5 on the road. Only the Patriots (12-4, 75.0 percent) have a better percentage than Green Bay’s 73.7.
Said McCarthy, “I think it’s part of the road rules that we adhere to when we come upon these types of challenges. I think our record at Lambeau Field in December and January speaks for itself, just the success that we have here at home and the ability to play in front of your home fans. But, playing on the road and just the way we’re built and the design of the way we operate, we feel we’re very prepared to go on the road.
“I think, as an individual, there’s a little bit of that kinship that goes on more on the road than you’re able to do at home. One thing about playing in Green Bay, Wisconsin, everybody wants to come to Lambeau Field and it can be a distraction, particularly for your younger players, when you do have home playoff games. So, that part of it is eliminated. There are definitely positives of going on the road.”
Healthy Now
The Baltimore Ravens are hopeful that being healthy will provide a boost in their game in Denver this weekend. On Dec. 16, the Broncos beat the Ravens 34-17, but the margin was four touchdowns entering the fourth quarter.
However, absent from Baltimore’s lineup that day were linebackers Ray Lewis and Dannell Ellerbe, strong safety Bernard Pollard, guard Marshal Yanda and tight end Ed Dickson. All will play Saturday.
Said Dickson, “It’s a different Ravens team. It’s a different mentality. It’s going to be a battle. If they think they’re just going to run away with this game, then they got another think coming.”
Said wide receiver Torrey Smith, “When we’re sharp and we’re on, we’re great. When we’re not, we’re terrible. There’s really no rocket science to it.”
Oh, did I mention that Peyton Manning’s post-season record is 1-5 in games played when the temperature is lower than 60 degrees? The forecast says it will be in the teens or low 20s Saturday, which will be Denver’s coldest home post-season game since Jan. 1, 1978.
Do the Players Care?
Thursday’s news that former NFL linebacker Junior Seau’s brain showed he was a victim of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) was not a surprise even though a special report by ABC’s Nightline Thursday night used the word “alarming” to describe the news.
What’s alarming, but also not surprising, is that most players barely give it a thought. Despite the graphic details of what football can do to someone’s brain, and despite the NFL’s increased efforts to identify concussions and make it more difficult to return to the field, there will be players that won’t tell anyone if they get their “bell rung.”
Players want to stay on the field, and they are mostly concerned with it potentially costing them their livelihood. Players know and understand the risks of the game when they decide to play it, especially at the highest level.
Consider the words of New England Patriots (Seau’s last team) cornerback Devin McCourty, who was asked if the news about Seau made him think about the risks of the game.
Said McCourty, “I think hearing that is definitely sad but right now, you don’t really think about that. We’re going into a playoff game. For me, that’s where my focus is. It’s definitely sad to hear that but just all the focus right now is just playing this game against Houston.”
That says it all.
