Aaron Rodgers pointed at the tables, with four chairs around each one, a screen pass away from his locker. He smiled thinking about where he was sitting.
It’s 2022 now, and Rodgers will tell you: This is different.
“One of the things that’s been really special is these tables are back in the locker room,” Rodgers said an hour after a brisk practice. “They don’t mean anything to many people, but they were gone last year [as a measure to contain COVID-19]. And when the media leaves, to see guys playing cards again in the locker room, spending time with each other? It used to be, with no tables in here, anytime we had a break, everybody’s just in their locker; no one’s talking to each other, everybody’s looking at their phone.
“The whole energy has shifted with something as small as that. Guys are hanging out, guys are BSing, guys are playing cards. That’s a really cool thing. We got the media back in the locker room, which is fun because now more guys get opportunities to speak, and you see their personalities. And there are a lot of fun things coming.”
Rodgers is 38 now, turning 39 in December, precisely the same age Brett Favre was when he first retired, then came back, only to be traded to the Jets to clear the way for Rodgers to become the Packers’ starter in 2008. And anyone paying attention over the last 18 months knows that the idea he could find a fate similar to his predecessor, playing out the string elsewhere, wasn’t considered far-fetched a relatively short time ago.
Instead, Rodgers is still in Green Bay, and we know it’ll almost certainly be for good. That’s another change heading into his 18th NFL season.
What’s more, the long-haired, bearded, newly tatted and heavily scrutinized reigning back-to-back NFL MVP is not just at peace with that—he’s happy about it. Since throwing his own career stability in a blender by openly questioning his future in Green Bay following the Packers’ loss to the Buccaneers in the NFC title game in January 2021, Rodgers has been through a lot, some of it self-generated. There was the awkward offseason to follow. The vaccine situation. Another painful playoff loss. The Davante Adams trade.
With all that now in the rearview mirror, Rodgers isn’t just happy: He’s thankful.
“Going through it really made it clear who’s an ally and who’s not an ally,” he said. “It’s more the mindset of the last couple years of trying to live with a little more gratitude and perspective as an older player that the years are coming to an end. And the end is near. Who knows how many years that is? But it’s definitely closer every single year. So I’m living my life with a little more perspective about how special the journey has been and less about what you don’t have, what you couldn’t accomplish, what could’ve been.
“Because that’s a never-ending loop of stuff that takes you away from living with far more gratitude.”
With that perspective, Rodgers is now looking forward to, like he said, the fun stuff that’s ahead. And maybe a different result than the Packers have gotten of late, too.
