Despite no longer being on the team, Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers are two of the most beloved players in Green Bay Packers history. Their stretch of amazing success (in the regular season) made the Packers offense exciting to watch for years. The connection and understanding between the two player is something that has been rarely matched.
But it was not always that way. Over the past year, there has been much said and written about the infamous Rodgers hand signals. Even the New York Jets current wide receivers coach doesn’t know what they all mean. Perhaps just as infamously, Rodgers has little patience for players that fail to catch onto them and understand them quickly.
Such was the case for rookie Davante Adams in 2014, as he told it on The Dan Patrick Show on Friday.
Former Green Bay Packers Wide Receiver Davante Adams Recalls Getting Chewed Out on the Field by Aaron Rodgers
Davante Adams’ appearance on The Dan Patrick Show was a great reminder of what endears him to fans. The main reason for his guest spot was to publicize some charity work he is doing in Las Vegas to donate food to children in need.
At the end of the interview, Patrick asked Adams to tell his favorite Rodgers story. Adams explained he can’t tell his favorite one, but he did share his second favorite story:
“I believe it was Week Two of 2014, my rookie year. In Week One, we played Seattle to open up the season and I think I played like eight plays, so I didn’t really get much action that day.
“So Week Two against the Lions in Detroit, we’re in that crazy stadium and crazy things happening there. I’ve done everything about as good as you could. I was in my book like no other rookie in the world.
“And we have signals. We use signals a lot over there. You guys saw us let him looking over give me a signal or something quick. So we had this signal that was basically like this [mimics signal with three fingers down] and we had a signal that was like this [similar signal].
“So he looks over to me, and in his defense, I technically should have known which one it was… so we’re at the line and he’s giving the cadence ‘Green 19,’ and in between he throws one of those signals up.
“And my brain starts doing backflips and crashing into walls, all types of stuff. So I freak out and I just pick one. So I don’t even think of the fact that I need another person with me to do the other one.
“So I did the wrong thing and I run a slant and he throws a little quick screen to me. Obviously I don’t catch this ball. The corner follows me, the ball flies out of bounds, it goes to like third down or something.
“And he comes sprinting over to me during the game and just letting me have it Ndamukong Suh looking over at him, and it was so awkward, they couldn’t even make fun. And he looks over at me, looks at him, and he goes, ‘Oooo you in trouble!'”
Obviously, it all worked out as Adams and Rodgers became one of the best quarterback-wide receiver duos in the NFL during their time in Green Bay. Many may recall that Adams was not the All-Pro that he is today immediately at the start of his career. It wasn’t until his third season that he and Rodgers really seemed to gel.
Prior to that, many fans wanted Adams cut.
While Adams and Rodgers are on separate teams and both no longer play for the Packers, it is stories like this one that fans always like to hear. Packers fans are a different breed than the typical NFL fan, something Adams notes earlier in his interview with Patrick.
“Packers fans, there they treat you more like it’s a family thing; in Vegas, you’re more of the sports hero,” Adams said.
That’s a really good reputation for Packers fans to have, and it is nice that he remembers that about them.
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