Aaron Rodgers is out, Jordan Love is in and the Green Bay Packers rediscovered their backbone. Here's why this should be celebrated as a great day... despite the departing quarterback's angst.
Well said, Tyler, on point, coming from a 60 year Packer fan. AR turned into a worse version of aging Favre. He likewise failed to deliver in key game after key game. He is an extremely passive aggressive, mercurial personality who thinks he is the GM and should run the team. Good luck to him. Looking forward to J. Love era. J. Love looks like a winner.
We spend so much time talking about the other stuff -- guilty as charged -- that the playoff duds sort of get lost in the wind. As Bob also said on the pod a few weeks back, losses like these come with consequences. Rodgers' career speaks for itself. It was marvelous. But it doesn't eliminate the reality that he is a major reason why Green Bay keeps losing in the game that matter most.
Much like McCarthy likely wondered what a young Aaron Rodgers could've given him in the 2007 NFC Championship Game, I cannot help but wonder if Matt LaFleur knew the Packers beat the Lions at Lambeau Field in Week 18 with Jordan Love.
Agreed. My view on AR was that he was screwed from 2012-2018 by negligent Packer mgmt and MM going stale as a HC. He was robbed of potentially 2 or more SB rings in that period and I felt then he should have spoken up, but he kept silent. From 2018 forward the Packers have been screwed by AR. Both sides screwed over in past 10 years and ZERO championships. Just time for the marriage to end. When a player acts like he is bigger than the team, there is NO TEAM.
I seem to remember reading that Rodgers wasn't exactly a finished product his first two years.
I give Gutey a ton of credit for staying the course and being in the awkward situation of restocking the roster on the fly.
Not easy to pull off with a somewhat flakey personality in tow. My fandom for Rodgers jumped ship when his camp tried to orchestrate a draft day trade to Denver.
This new subscriber is looking forward to reading everything in full and getting my fill of Bob McGinn. Still grieving over your departure at The Athletic, Tyler, but I'm rubbing my hands with glee at the insightful content to come.
It's a pleasure to have you, Ian. Thank you for joining!
And well said on the draft-day timing. I know both quarterback and reporter attempted to tidy that up months later, but... eh. Not much is by accident when it comes to this charade, as we've seen.
Spot on Ty. An accurate reconstruction of the last few disappointment-laden years. Seeing QB after QB in the playoffs laying it all on the line to get over the hump while AR and his lackeys kept putting blame on everybody else was frustrating beyond belief and was starting to make me fall out of love with a franchise that under TT would probably have moved on from him way before this year.
While Rodgers went out of his way to distance *this* regime from the one that drafted him, he skimmed past the fact that Ted Thompson was forever a mentor for Brian Gutekunst. This GM is following that GM's playbook. Maybe the names and faces have changed, but not the philosophy. I think it's just very difficult for Rodgers to come to grips with that.
I have always believed that Gutekunst, had GB mantained the power structure that was present under Thompson (the GM solely and completely responsible for all football decisions) instead of this kind of triumvirate with Murphy in charge (eerily similar to when Olejniczak was doing the same before Lombardi), would have moved on from Rodgers much sooner than now. That said, the organization is back to doing what's best for the franchise instead of one man, as you state in the article, and this alone is reason for celebration. Thanks for your insight all these months and years, keep foing what you are doing.
Tyler, you are the ultimate hype man. Loved the article.
People can complain about drafting and developing Rodgers and Love, but the flip side is the Jets drafting Darnold, Wilson and the trading for the last year of a declining star
Exactly, Jonathan. Honestly shocked more teams don't bite the bullet -- accept all criticism from fans and their QB1 alike -- and draft a quarterback in the 20s or 30s. Look at Philadelphia. It got the Eagles back to a Super Bowl. Waiting until you absolutely need a QB comes with a host of issues.
Agree with about all your points, although I have to say the Packers wanted to return a consecutive MVP is pretty easy to understand - although the crazy contract was not (he was hardly going to retire).
But, let's keep this quite until the trade goes through.
Hey, I am always game, Cary! Nothing beats a hearty debate on a meaty subject like this. By no means does everyone have to agree with everything written at Go Long. I love that we have so many different viewpoints here. Appreciate you sticking around -- always.
I agree with your article wholeheartedly. I would add that Rodgers’ ability to play quarterback has never been complete. The greatest qb’s such as Starr, Brady and Montana, rise to the occasion in the biggest moments of the biggest games. Rodgers’ history is full of examples in which he failed. As McGinn stated, Rodgers is a great regular season quarterback. In my book, Starr is the best GB qb ever, Favre the best football player at qb, and Rodgers the best passer.
Glory, glory Hallelujah. Or, sayonara Mr. Ayahuasca. Finally, that emerging receiver corps can link up with an emerging quarterback to do the work an emerging contender needs to do.
Please stop with the Patrick Mahomes comparisons. You have pushed that narrative since Love was drafted and it makes you look foolish. All Packer fans hope Love pans out. If he does not then the President, GM and HC will be fired and GB will return to 1980’s irrelevance.
I have too many thoughts to put in writing, but the predominant one is simply that I'm excited to see the Jordan Love era!
Well said, Tyler, on point, coming from a 60 year Packer fan. AR turned into a worse version of aging Favre. He likewise failed to deliver in key game after key game. He is an extremely passive aggressive, mercurial personality who thinks he is the GM and should run the team. Good luck to him. Looking forward to J. Love era. J. Love looks like a winner.
Appreciate you reading, JT.
We spend so much time talking about the other stuff -- guilty as charged -- that the playoff duds sort of get lost in the wind. As Bob also said on the pod a few weeks back, losses like these come with consequences. Rodgers' career speaks for itself. It was marvelous. But it doesn't eliminate the reality that he is a major reason why Green Bay keeps losing in the game that matter most.
Much like McCarthy likely wondered what a young Aaron Rodgers could've given him in the 2007 NFC Championship Game, I cannot help but wonder if Matt LaFleur knew the Packers beat the Lions at Lambeau Field in Week 18 with Jordan Love.
Agreed. My view on AR was that he was screwed from 2012-2018 by negligent Packer mgmt and MM going stale as a HC. He was robbed of potentially 2 or more SB rings in that period and I felt then he should have spoken up, but he kept silent. From 2018 forward the Packers have been screwed by AR. Both sides screwed over in past 10 years and ZERO championships. Just time for the marriage to end. When a player acts like he is bigger than the team, there is NO TEAM.
I seem to remember reading that Rodgers wasn't exactly a finished product his first two years.
I give Gutey a ton of credit for staying the course and being in the awkward situation of restocking the roster on the fly.
Not easy to pull off with a somewhat flakey personality in tow. My fandom for Rodgers jumped ship when his camp tried to orchestrate a draft day trade to Denver.
This new subscriber is looking forward to reading everything in full and getting my fill of Bob McGinn. Still grieving over your departure at The Athletic, Tyler, but I'm rubbing my hands with glee at the insightful content to come.
It's a pleasure to have you, Ian. Thank you for joining!
And well said on the draft-day timing. I know both quarterback and reporter attempted to tidy that up months later, but... eh. Not much is by accident when it comes to this charade, as we've seen.
Spot on Ty. An accurate reconstruction of the last few disappointment-laden years. Seeing QB after QB in the playoffs laying it all on the line to get over the hump while AR and his lackeys kept putting blame on everybody else was frustrating beyond belief and was starting to make me fall out of love with a franchise that under TT would probably have moved on from him way before this year.
Thanks, Fernando.
While Rodgers went out of his way to distance *this* regime from the one that drafted him, he skimmed past the fact that Ted Thompson was forever a mentor for Brian Gutekunst. This GM is following that GM's playbook. Maybe the names and faces have changed, but not the philosophy. I think it's just very difficult for Rodgers to come to grips with that.
I have always believed that Gutekunst, had GB mantained the power structure that was present under Thompson (the GM solely and completely responsible for all football decisions) instead of this kind of triumvirate with Murphy in charge (eerily similar to when Olejniczak was doing the same before Lombardi), would have moved on from Rodgers much sooner than now. That said, the organization is back to doing what's best for the franchise instead of one man, as you state in the article, and this alone is reason for celebration. Thanks for your insight all these months and years, keep foing what you are doing.
A devoted Packers fan and owner.
Tyler, you are the ultimate hype man. Loved the article.
People can complain about drafting and developing Rodgers and Love, but the flip side is the Jets drafting Darnold, Wilson and the trading for the last year of a declining star
Exactly, Jonathan. Honestly shocked more teams don't bite the bullet -- accept all criticism from fans and their QB1 alike -- and draft a quarterback in the 20s or 30s. Look at Philadelphia. It got the Eagles back to a Super Bowl. Waiting until you absolutely need a QB comes with a host of issues.
Agree with about all your points, although I have to say the Packers wanted to return a consecutive MVP is pretty easy to understand - although the crazy contract was not (he was hardly going to retire).
But, let's keep this quite until the trade goes through.
"It's a giant falsehood that I literally handed them a list! Now, did we have conversations about who I would *wink* love to play with? Sure! "
It's a truthful deception on par with "being immunized". I'll miss him as a player, but this shit has gotten old.
Yea, I have thoughts on this, but I won't bother retreading it with Ty. We'll see what happens in the future, for both him and Love.
Hey, I am always game, Cary! Nothing beats a hearty debate on a meaty subject like this. By no means does everyone have to agree with everything written at Go Long. I love that we have so many different viewpoints here. Appreciate you sticking around -- always.
Why did you hold back Tyler? Please tell us what you really think! lol
I know, I know. For shame.
“The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers comes to mind.
Amen.
I agree with your article wholeheartedly. I would add that Rodgers’ ability to play quarterback has never been complete. The greatest qb’s such as Starr, Brady and Montana, rise to the occasion in the biggest moments of the biggest games. Rodgers’ history is full of examples in which he failed. As McGinn stated, Rodgers is a great regular season quarterback. In my book, Starr is the best GB qb ever, Favre the best football player at qb, and Rodgers the best passer.
Glory, glory Hallelujah. Or, sayonara Mr. Ayahuasca. Finally, that emerging receiver corps can link up with an emerging quarterback to do the work an emerging contender needs to do.
Awesome job Tyler well done …great read 🤜🏻
Great recap Ty. Can't wait to be PACKER fan again. Thanks for your talent, honesty and POV. Give Bob a hug for us.
Please stop with the Patrick Mahomes comparisons. You have pushed that narrative since Love was drafted and it makes you look foolish. All Packer fans hope Love pans out. If he does not then the President, GM and HC will be fired and GB will return to 1980’s irrelevance.