The Green Bay Packers made the difficult and unpopular decision to trade four-time NFL MVP and future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets last offseason. While the move was not completely a surprise due to Jordan Love entering his fourth NFL season, it was met by a great deal of criticism from both fans and media members at the time.
Of course, Love proved that the faith the Packers had in him, and the potential that they saw in him when they first drafted him, was well-placed. Not only did he outperform the 2022 version of Rodgers that missed the playoffs in one of the worst seasons of his career, he also outperformed the 2008 version of Rodgers that first took over for Brett Favre.
Quarterback | Completion % | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Passer Rating |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jordan Love | 64.2% | 4,159 | 32 | 11 | 96.1 |
Aaron Rodgers | 63.6% | 4,038 | 28 | 13 | 93.8 |
Brett Favre | 64.1% | 3,227 | 18 | 13 | 85.3 |
The trade of Rodgers also ended a years-long feud with general manager and the Packers’ front office. Rodgers was not happy that they drafted his replacement in 2020 and oftentimes publicly bashed them for cutting his friends or not doing enough to re-sign them.
Former Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers Is Not Afraid to Speak His Mind
![Former Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers Praises Vladimir Putin in Recent Interview 2 Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers](https://wisportsheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/USATSI_22327582-scaled.jpg)
As football fans became well-aware over the last few years, Rodgers has a wide variety of opinions that may deviate from societal norms, and he is not afraid to share them.
His weekly appearances on The Pat McAfee Show have provided fans with insight to the incredible football mind that Rodgers has. Truly, there are few that understand the game of football, or can remember details of games played over a decade ago, like him.
However, that platform has also landed Rodgers in the middle of several self-created controversies. His politician-like answers regarding the COVID vaccine were unpopular in 2020, and his anti-vaccination stance is still a topic that he brings up, while criticizing Dr. Anthony Facui, whenever he can.
More recently, Rodgers has been using guest appearances on various shows to talk about various conspiracy theories, like how architecture wasn’t really invented by humans, but was instead invented by aliens or giants.
By this point, there are more than a handful of examples of Rodgers using high-profile shows to share his unconventional beliefs, but his latest interview with Tucker Carlson was a big insight into several controversial opinions that he holds.
Former Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers Praises Vladimir Putin
![Former Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers Praises Vladimir Putin in Recent Interview 3 Jan 16, 2021; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers center Corey Linsley (63) prepares to snap the ball to quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) against the Los Angeles Rams during the NFC Divisional Round at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports](https://wisportsheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/USATSI_15448852_168400517_lowres.jpg)
During his interview with Carlson that was posted online last week, Rodgers made several interesting assertions, such as the government is using religion to control people. He also talked about how he very heavily considered being Robert F. Kenney Jr.’s running mate in November.
He also talked Russian President Vladimir Putin in terms one would not expect from one of the United States’ biggest threats:
“You did one of the most controversial, somehow, not to me, most controversial interviews in the last, I don’t know how long, when you went to Russia and did Putin. How did it feel coming back? Because anybody who watched the interview was like, number one, it was f—ing awesome.
“Number two, Putin came off as an interesting, thoughtful, smart individual. And if you’ve read 1984, the base game plan of government control is you have to have an enemy, and you have to slander that enemy regardless if you know anything about them.”
Rodgers went on to say that he would like to hear President Joe Biden talk about the history of the United States in the same way that Putin talked about Russia’s history. The problem, though, is that Russian historians have deemed the historical narrative that Putin gave to Carlson as false.
That doesn’t seem to matter to Rodgers, though. He also had very strong anti-Ukraine opinions to share with Carlson, mostly directed at Volodymyr Zelenskyy:
“[You’re] being canceled by the people who have just bowed down and given interviews from their knees to the Zelenskyy’s of the world.”
He then went on to make fun the clothes the Ukrainian president wore in his meeting with Congress.
Ironically, earlier in the interview he talked about how he was trying to be more loving and empathetic to people with different views than him.
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