Aaron Rodgers Reveals How Close He Was Retiring Before Training Camp
Aaron Rodgers returned to the Green Bay Packers at the start of training camp and talked about [...]
Aaron Rodgers returned to the Green Bay Packers at the start of training camp and talked about possibly retiring. However, it looks like the star quarterback came closer to calling it a career than many anticipated. Rodgers recently appeared on the Dan Le Batard & Friends podcast and said he was coin flip way from calling it quits.
"I mean, I felt going into the weekend before camp that I was 50/50," said Rodgers, per CBS Sports. "I don't care if people don't believe that. That's true. There were some things that got me to 50/50 for sure, and you know I spent a couple of days in silence and meditation and contemplation and really felt like that I should come back. There's a lot of opportunities for growth and exciting things in Green Bay and that felt like the right thing to do."
Aaron Rodgers revealed on this week's episode of #SouthBeachSessions that it was 50/50 on whether he would retire on the weekend headed into training camp.
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— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) August 18, 2021
During his first press conference during training camp, Rodgers admitted that he thought about retirement. But he also explained why he wanted to return. "I talked about how important being a full-timer was for a long time," Rodgers said. "This was the first time to spend the off-season away without a COVID year or a lockout year, and I enjoyed it. I really did. I took the time working on myself and trying to better myself in a number of areas where I feel like I could improve based on my own patterns and conditioning."
"And it there was a lot of growth, in that process, I continued to find joy and happiness and things off the field. However, there's still a big competitive hole in my body that I need to fill. And as I got back into my workouts, I just realized that I know I can still play and I want to still play and as long as I feel like I can give 100% to the team, then I should still play."
With Rodgers back, the Packers should be in a position to play for a Super Bowl. Green Bay has played in the NFC Championship game the last two years and has come up short each time. Rodgers is coming off one of the best seasons in his NFL career, throwing for 4,299 yards, 48 touchdowns and just five interceptions with a 121.5 passer rating. He won the MVP award for the third time in his career.