Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady have been the face of the NFL for the better part of the last two decades. Between the two Hall of Fame Quarterbacks, they have accumulated seven MVP awards, 25 pro bowls, and eight Super Bowl wins (yes I am aware Brady has seven of them). Tom Brady announced his retirement on February 1st, 2023. This time, he meant it. Brady, however, hopes that Aaron Rodgers doesn’t make the same decision.
Tom Brady Hopes Aaron Rodgers Doesn’t Retire
“I hope he doesn’t retire,” he said on his Let’s Go! podcast with Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray (34:15 mark). “Because like I said, the world, the league needs good quarterbacks, and he’s one of the greats. So if he retires, it’ll be a sad day for the league. He’s an incredible player. And everyone has their different processes they go through. … However he’s going about it, good for him. Everyone’s got their unique way to process the season.”
“Certainly from the standpoint of him leaving the game the way that he’s playing, he broke his thumb this year and still played tremendous,” he said on his podcast. “And you could see as he got healthy throughout the year how incredibly talented he is. So, you know, I hope the good players keep playing.”
Aaron Rodgers had a “down” year in 2022-23. At 39 years old, Rodgers threw for 3,695 yards, 26 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and completed 64.6 percent of his passes. He also took 32 sacks in 2023. The Packers finished 8-9 on the season and just missed the playoffs with their week 18 loss against the Detroit Lions.
Aaron Rodgers Start To Four-Day Retreat Delayed
According to Kevin Harsh:
As Green Bay Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers ponders his NFL future and his potential retirement, he is taking quite a unique approach to the process, planning an “isolation retreat” where will spend four nights in complete darkness before making a decision about his future. There were reports and rumors that Rodgers had already begun that retreat, meaning a decision could be coming in the near future, but it appears that’s not accurate.
According to football media personality Pat McAfee, Aaron Rodgers has not yet begun his darkness retreat and will be a guest on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.
Per Pat McAfee:
“It will be the final Aaron Rodgers Tuesday of the season tomorrow. Although it was reported just yesterday that Aaron Rodgers was going into the darkness today. Our sources have told us much different news than that. Our sources actually said ‘hey, want to have another Aaron Rodgers Tuesday next week?’ Yeah, we’d love to have an Aaron Rodgers Tuesday.”
It is unknown the new timeline of Rodgers’ retreat, however, it will figure to be sooner rather than later. Aaron Rodgers has mentioned that his decision will come sometime after the Super Bowl. Rodgers signed his massive three-year $150 million extension on March 8th, 2022. I would anticipate his decision coming around that time once again this year. With over a month before the 2023 NFL Draft, a decision coming around that time would give the Packers enough time to formulate a plan moving forward. Whether that means rolling with Rodgers as their starting quarterback in 2023, or choosing to start the Jordan Love era remains to be seen.
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