Aaron Rodgers revealed he wasn't going to make a decision on whether he was going to the New York Jets when he made his announcement on "The Pat McAfee Show" Wednesday, yet the quarterback had plenty to say in his hour on the program.
Rodgers took a long time to announce his plans for 2023, doing it on his own terms. The Green Bay Packers will move on with Jordan Love, whom they drafted in the first round in 2020. The Love era will begin in Green Bay while Rodgers begins his next chapter in New York.
What all did Rodgers say Wednesday? Here were his best quotes:
Clarifying why he's on with McAfee
"I will say this. This isn't a decision day. This isn't me announcing what's going on. This is me clearing this up. The decision has already happened. Coming on the show was never going to announce something."
Rodgers made it clear he made his decision to go to the New York Jets. He wanted to announce his decision.
Decision to retire -- then pivoting
"When I came out of the darkness, something changed. I realized there have been a little bit of a shift. The Packers were interested in trading me. When I went in the darkness, I was 90% retired -- 10% playing."
Rodgers was seriously considering retirement when he went into his retreat and meditated. When he came back into the world, he found out the Packers wanted to move on and they wanted him to retire a Packer (similar to Brett Favre). Rodgers thought about it and still wanted to keep playing.
Knew he was going to be with Jets for days
"Since Friday I made it clear that my intention was to play and my intention is to play for the New York Jets ... I haven't been holding anything up at this point. It's the Packers and the compensation they're trying to get for me."
Rodgers made his decision to go to the Jets Friday. The process wasn't dragged out on his end.
Mixed emotion with Packers
"The Packers would like to move on. They let me know that in so many words. They were saying the right thing public, they were going to move on ... I still have that fire and I wanna play."
Rodgers wanted to spend his whole career with the Packers, potentially even leaving the game after the 2022 season. The Packers wanting to move on influenced him to have a change of heart and ponder his decision.
More on the Packers
"I love Green Bay. I love the people. I love so many people in that town. I'm not upset about it. I have love for every Packer fan and that organization.''
Rodgers said it was "all love" on his departure from Green Bay, even if he appeared upset the organization wanted to move on.
On his reported 'wish list' with Allen Lazard and Odell Beckham Jr.
"Who wouldn't want Odell on their team? I don't have demands. My only demand is for transparency. If you say some bulls---."
Later that night, OBJ responded to the clip of Rodgers talking about him. Sounds like he's interested in teaming up.
Hey 👋
— Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) March 16, 2023
Rodgers also called out some reporters on the report as he want on a tangent regarding the players he reportedly wanted. He also went to bat for the Jets signing Lazard.
"He's a f----- great dude. He's an awesome dude, and anybody would be lucky to have him in their locker room."
Love for Jordan Love
"Jordan (Love) is going to be a great player. He's a f----- great kid, they got a good young team ... If I haven't won back-to-back MVPs, this decision would have happened two years earlier."
Rodgers thinks the Packers will be fine without him and Jordan Love will get the job done as quarterback. If he didn't win MVPs, the decision to move on may have been sooner.
The plea to Packers -- and his legacy
"I think my plea is, and I will say this is debatable, but I would say I'm debatably the best player in franchise history. I'm in the conversation for sure. What's not debatable is I'm the longest tenured Packer in history."
Rodgers is one of the best players in Packers history, holding several franchise records. He is the longest-tenured Packers player, but Green Bay has a lot of franchise greats. Don Hutson, Ray Nitschke, Bart Starr. Jerry Kramer, Paul Horning, Forrest Gregg, Herb Adderley, and Reggie White would like a word.
Interest from other teams and reunion with Davante Adams?
"I think there were other teams that were interested and obviously there's certain players that I have a lot of love and affinity for, and reuniting with especially one specific person would've been special.
"I'm not mentioning any names, but there's definitely one particular guy, him and I have this special unspoken rapport. If there's anybody that I would've wanted to put on a 'demand list,' if you can incorporate any player across the league, it would be (this) one specific person."
Rodgers appeared to have considered the Las Vegas Raiders and reuniting with Davante Adams in 2023. They are arguably the best quarterback-wide receiver connection in the NFL for six years.
