I’ve always thought that the Packers asked Brett Favre for a decision about playing in 2008 in early February because they knew he would say no. They wanted to move on to Aaron Rodgers, so they pushed the issue, got Favre to retire, drafted several quarterbacks, and hoped Favre wouldn’t change his mind.
Ian O’Conner’s unauthorized biography of Aaron Rodgers doesn’t confirm this directly but comes close.
The turning point happened during a Thursday night game in late November against Dallas. Favre got injured, and Rodgers came in.
Although it was a tough start and the Packers lost the game (both teams were 10-1), they saw enough to decide it was time to switch from Favre to Rodgers.
The day after the Dallas game, linebacker Brady Poppinga went to a party where Packers executive (now Seahawks G.M.) John Schneider was present and chatty.
“Brady,” Schneider said, “we got our guy.” Poppinga was puzzled.
“No more, ‘Is Brett Favre retiring, or is he coming back?’” Schneider said. “Aaron is our guy. . . . We’re done with Brett, man. Aaron was awesome yesterday.”
Even with the shift away from Favre, he nearly led the Packers back to the Super Bowl that year. But then he was gone, and Rodgers took over after spending three years on the bench.
The Schneider story ends Chapter 7 of O’Connor’s book, which is simply called Brett. It includes stories of the issues between Favre and the man who replaced him. Throughout, Rodgers seems like someone who could dish out criticism but struggled to handle it himself.
He reportedly called Favre “Grandpa” more than once and boasted about his Wonderlic score (though no one really cares about that). However, Rodgers was upset when Favre and Craig Nall put Rodgers’s helmet on a table with other items to be signed by the team and sold for charity. Rodgers wore the signed helmet to practice.
It was amusing. Rodgers had an opportunity to win over his teammates if he had just laughed it off. Instead, he told someone in the locker room, “Do you know what the mutherfucker did to me?”
Lighten up, Aaron.
Rodgers is a big fan of The Office. And as the saying goes, everyone knows a Michael Scott—or if you don’t know one, you might be one. Based on the Brett chapter from the Aaron Rodgers bio, there’s a real chance that Aaron Rodgers is a Michael Scott.
