At this point, it feels like more people watch "Game of Thrones" than not watch it. Clearly that isn't a real number, but if you're one of those weirdos somehow not watching the hit HBO show careening towards an epic ending during the middle of its seventh and penultimate season, well, what are you doing?
Aaron Rodgers is not one of those people, and it turns out the Green Bay Packers quarterback has a pretty good handle on the history of the series. It actually turns out that a lot of NFL players do -- on "Hard Knocks" there are multiple front office folks (including GM Jason Licht) and a ton of players talking about watching the show. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was caught telling teammates he was pumped that HBO was in the dorms at Falcons training camp.
And according to Kevin Clark of The Ringer, there are a ton of Packers players who are concerned about being around teammates after the show has aired for spoiler purposes. Allow this to be an official GAME OF THRONES SPOILER WARNING TOO.
Advance at your own risk.
(Wink of the CBS Eye to the superb Joanna Robinson of Vanity Fair for the spoilers GIF.)
Rodgers also told Clark he has a pretty good theory about how the season will play out, or at least what will happen with three main characters.
"I think that Jon Snow, Daenerys, and the Hand of the Queen [Tyrion Lannister] -- I think they are all related. Three dragons, three riders, three siblings," Rodgers said. "We know from Bran, the Three-Eyed Raven, that Ned Stark was not Jon Snow's father. The Mad King might have been his father, might have been him -- and that would make Daenerys and Jon brother and sister. And then Tyrion, we don't know who his mother is, who Tywin slept with. I think there's some sort of relationship.
"At least Jon Snow and Daenerys are going to be working together, and they are mining the dragon glass."
Maybe Rodgers doesn't have a good handle after all? Of course Dany and Jon are related (although according to the wildly accepted theory, Rodgers is wrong -- Jon is presumed to be the son of Daenerys' brother Rhaegar, which would make Dany and Jon aunt and nephew, not brother and sister; I made the same mistake the other night and my wife called me a moron, so it's OK, Aaron). If you didn't pick up on that, you need to go back to college in order to figure out how to watch television.
There's a lot of theories out there about Tyrion being a Targaryen as well, although that is certainly not confirmed. There would be some good family themes about love and hate if that would be the case. It would also set up a potential triple-dragon, triple-Targaryen situation where the three family members could ride dragons into the north and burn up all the White Walkers.
Maybe that is what Rodgers was trying to convey; it's not exactly easy to break down a complex show like "Thrones" in the course of a quick interview. Clearly he has a pretty good handle on it and, let's not forget, he can't assume that everyone is caught up on the show or even watches. He knows his teammates do though.
