Aaron Rodgers loves football. Before last season, he didn’t love it as much as he once did. His experience with Mike Tomlin helped rekindle it.
In a Saturday interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, Pat Kirwan asked how he can walk away from a game he loves.
“I do love it, yeah,” Rodgers said. “I’m also 42. I’ve played 22 years. I played three in college. I’ve never had a fall to myself. I want to start a family with my wife, you know? I think you just have to know when it’s time.
“And, you know, there’s been times in the last three offseasons where I felt like maybe it is time. But doors open, and I just tried to listen to the signs. I might have been listening to the wrong signs by going to New York, but it was a good learning experience, you know, and I learned a lot during that process, and I am thankful for that time there.
“And I’m thankful for last year with Coach Tomlin, because he helped me get that love back, that deep love back for the game. That, you know, tearing my Achilles and going through a year of rehab, and just never feeling like myself, it just kind of beats you up a little bit, and I didn’t want that to be my ending in the game that I love so much, and Mike and being around the guys, got me that love back, and I was content in walking away. And then they hired Mike McCarthy, and I was like, ‘Okay, maybe we need a full circle here, me and Mike need a full circle here.”
Whether Rodgers believes it was a good idea will depend largely on how his last season goes. Which will depend on whether McCarthy can match or beat last year’s 10-7 season that resulted in an AFC North crown and another one-and-done postseason run.
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