Aaron Rodgers has broken his silence on the Green Bay Packers drafting Jordan Love in the first round last month. The Packers starting QB was on a conference call with reporters and was asked about his thoughts on the team selecting Love at No. 26 overall. Rodgers said he wasn’t excited about the pick at first, but he understands why the team drafted Love.
“I think the initial reaction [to the Packers selecting Love] was surprise,” Rodgers said, as transcribed by CBS Sports. “Not gonna say that I was thrilled by the pick, but I understand. The organization is not only thinking about the present but the future, and I respect that. I understand their focus and their mindset.” There was speculation about Rodgers being traded to another team because of Love being drafted. That won’t happen because the team is financially tied to Rodgers for another three seasons, at least. However, Rodgers didn’t rule out the possibility of playing for another team when it comes time for Love to take over.
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“[The selection of Love] reinforces the adage that you can only control what you can control,” Rodgers said. “Any great athlete, there’s things that are out of my control. That’s very important to me, but that’s truly out of my control. What I can control is my play and make that decision, at any point, a hard one … If there feels like a time where I feel like I can play at a high level, and my body feels great, there’s been other great players that have gone onto play elsewhere.” Rodgers was drafted by the Packers No. 24 overall in the 2005 draft when the team still had Brett Favre on the roster. Rodgers said he’s ready to work with Love, which is the opposite of what Favre did with Rodgers.
Favre and Rodgers are now good friends as they have gotten older. When Favre heard the news of Love being drafted, he said Rodgers will play for another team before his career comes to an end. “I think he’ll play somewhere else,” Favre said to Rich Eisen back in April. “It’s not uncommon to retire and unretire now. When I did it, it was out of the realm, now it’s fairly common not just in football, but in all sports.”
