FLORHAM PARK, NJ – One day in 2007, on their way to practice, Aaron Rodgers, John Kuhn and Corey Hall – teammates on the Green Bay Packers – began a discussion about their mortality in football. Rodgers, driving his Ford pickup, surprised them with his answer to the question “How long do you want to play?” »
Even then, Rodgers – 24 and understudy to Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre – was fascinated by thought-provoking topics. These carpool conversations were deep and open, especially this one.
“I’ll never forget it,” Kuhn told ESPN. “He said, ‘I’m just going to do this for a little while. It’s not going to be my life. I’m going to go back to Chico (Calif.) and coach high school football because I love kids.’ “
Kuhn was shocked. Even though his buddy had yet to start an NFL game, he knew — everyone knew — that Rodgers possessed “extreme talent,” as Kuhn describes it. So, no, he didn’t buy into the idea of sticking around for only a “short time” so he could go home and raise teenagers on the gridiron.
“I don’t know if I really believed him at the time,” said Kuhn, whose skepticism was well-founded.
FOUR MVP AWARDS, one Super Bowl and nearly 60,000 passing yards later, Rodgers still drives to practice while making a living as a quarterback. The Ford pickup is long gone. These days, he’s leading the New York Jets and trying to take them to a destination they haven’t seen in 55 years: the Super Bowl.
He is the oldest active player in the NFL – he turns 41 on December 2 – impressing teammates and coaches with his longevity and youthful passion. He’s the OG whose body of work gets reactions from his teammates. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was in disbelief when he recently learned that Rodgers was preparing for his 20th season.
“I didn’t know that,” Williams said. “Aaron (has) 20 years in the NFL? Dude!”
Doing a quick calculation, Williams noted that rookie running back Braelon Allen, 20, has been alive almost as long as Rodgers has been playing in the NFL. In fact, Allen was 15 months old when Rodgers was drafted by the Packers in 2005.
And now here they are, practicing together, with Rodgers handing and throwing passes to the youngest player in the league. Talk about bridging the generation gap. Allen doesn’t turn 21 until Jan. 20, which means Rodgers will have to wait until the playoffs (the Jets hope) before taking him out for a legal cocktail.
Allen grew up in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, 75 miles south of Green Bay, which means his earliest sports memories are of Rodgers on the family living room TV. He wasn’t a Packers fan, but he was captivated by “greatness,” as he called it.
“Seeing him every week, growing up in Wisconsin, being on the same field as him will be a surreal feeling,” Allen said. “But, you know, I’ve heard stories. You better do your job or he’ll let you know.”
The rookie’s presence only underscores what the rest of the team already knows: Rodgers is fighting Father Time, trying to produce his own “Very Brady Sequel.”
When he begins the season against the San Francisco 49ers, Rodgers will become the seventh quarterback since 1960 to start at least one game in his 40s. The others are Tom Brady (98 starts), Vinny Testaverde (25), Drew Brees (23), Favre (13), Doug Flutie (six) and Warren Moon (one).
Testaverde, who played with the Jets from 1998 to 2003 and again in 2005, knows what’s in store for Rodgers.
“It’s inevitable that they will talk about (his age),” Testaverde said. “If he plays well, it’ll be, ‘He’s playing great at 40, but how long can that last?’ If he’s not, it’ll be, “What’s going on? He’s showing his age. It’s still something he can’t let that affect him.” ‘He’ll let it be a distraction.’
Remembering when he was 40, Testaverde said Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells made him run extra gassers in training camp. He showed up in excellent shape, but was still ordered to run with the players who had failed their fitness test. In Parcells’ mind, the older players had to do more to keep up with the rest.
Suffice it to say, Rodgers won’t be doing any extra rounds in camp. The times have changed. Two per day was dropped in 2011. Less is more in the safety-conscious NFL, which has reduced practice time and the number of padded practices. According to Testaverde, that’s one of the main reasons Rodgers and others played into their 40s.
RODGERS ADJUSTED his diet and fitness regime over the years, becoming more health conscious. In his early days with the Packers, his daily lunch often consisted of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Sun Chips and a handful of gummy bears, according to Kuhn, who sat with him in the team cafeteria .
“It was crazy to see that from such an extremely gifted guy,” Kuhn said. “But he changed that over the years, and he did different diets and different workouts.”
About ten years ago, Rodgers cut out dairy and gluten to help with some joint issues, which allowed him to gain more energy. He started hot yoga. He slept more. He focused on recovery. Just a few months ago, he was spotted on the famous steps of Santa Monica, California, working out with members of the USC football team.
Rodgers has spoken about emulating Brady, who was obsessed with health and wellness and played until he was 45. It’s unclear if Rodgers is snacking on avocado ice cream.
In a way, Rodgers has come full circle. During a pre-draft workout in 2005, he threw passes to Jerry Rice, an anti-aging wonder who had just finished his career at 42. The private session was led by Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, who invited his former wide receiver to participate.
The idea was to see how he would react in the presence of a legend. Naturally, Rodgers was stunned when Rice showed up at Cal’s Memorial Stadium to catch passes from a 21-year-old. (The Bucs passed on him with the fifth pick, opting for running back Cadillac Williams.)
Two decades later, Rodgers resembles Rice, impressing younger players with his longevity and accomplishments.
“Seeing how hard he’s worked, how much he loves football, how smart he is, how invested he is in our team and in football, it’s amazing,” Williams said. “It trickles down to everyone and makes everyone better.”
RODGERS SAID HE tries to be “intentional” every day, which often means coaching younger players.
Rodgers was present at the team’s offseason activities, but he did not attend this week’s mandatory minicamp due to a prior commitment, according to the team, which called it an “unexcused absence.”
Second-year center Joe Tippmann, who never got a chance to play with Rodgers last season, is trying to learn the quarterback’s sophisticated cadence. It’s a challenge.
“He doesn’t just tell me, he teaches me something that maybe I missed or didn’t understand,” Tippmann said. “He’ll go back and explain to me how he sees it. And that’s something that’s really helped me.”
Rodgers’ relationship with No. 1 receiver Garrett Wilson has evolved over the past 14 months. There is more give and take than before, with Wilson showing no reservations about expressing his opinion.
“We’re able to have conversations that we wouldn’t have had initially this time last year, those more difficult conversations, the ones where we might disagree, where we agree, where he has his grain of salt, which is still the best two cents I’ve heard,” Wilson said.
Rodgers is extremely demanding, creating a certain level of accountability. The coaches also feel his presence.
It’s not easy coaching a future Hall of Famer, someone who started playing in the league before most of the Jets staff was coaching there. The only coach prior to Rodgers is cornerbacks coach Tony Oden, who started in 2004. Head coach Robert Saleh started the same year as Rodgers: 2005.
“With a guy like Aaron, trying to impress him with a special PowerPoint or a magical coaching point, that’s not going to happen,” passing game coordinator Todd Downing said. “But what I can do is help prepare him and serve him in a way that makes him feel like he’s ready to go out there and win. So that’s all that I’m trying to do, and I think that’s enough for him.”
Wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson, whose 13-year playing career ended two years before Rodgers was drafted, said it was “amazing” to watch the veteran on a daily basis. For Jefferson, hired in January, this is his first exposure to Rodgers.
Jefferson was so moved that he shared some thoughts with his players.
“Hey, guys, you can play in this league for 10 to 12 years and not play with a quarterback like this,” Jefferson said. “Let’s take advantage of him while he’s here. I mean, this quarterback can literally take your career to the next level.”
RODGERS Aspires to a Brady-style end to his career, but it won’t be easy. Several factors work against him. That’s his age. This is the wound; no quarterback has ever come back from a torn Achilles at age 40. (Testaverde was 37 when he returned from the same injury in 2000.) Reminded by a reporter that he was attempting something unprecedented, Rodgers smiled.
“Good,” he said.
How much does this add to his motivation?
“Not anymore, now that you mentioned it,” Rodgers said. “So thank you for that.”
Kuhn would love to see his former teammate pull a Brady or a Peyton Manning, winning a Super Bowl with his second team. The naysayers, Kuhn believes, will provide Rodgers with plenty of motivation.
He wouldn’t be surprised if he played for a few more years. “A significant slip” in production is the only thing Kuhn said could stop him, as Rodgers would consider that too much of a “burden” to continue playing.
“Until the day I die, I will say he was the best football thrower I ever saw,” Kuhn said. “Pair that with a bit of intelligence, which he obviously has, and that makes him very dangerous. And that’s what kept him playing for a very long time.”
Built for the long haul. Like a Ford truck.