I'm going to go on record as agreeing, and disagreeing, with the justifications for drafting Love. My reasons are simple enough, and we sometimes miss the whole story. It's easy to see how it happens.
For openers, it's very true that Rodgers had two "down years" at QB, prior to taking Love. That was a signal to Gutekunst, and LeFleur, that Rodgers may have been nearing the end of the road. BUT, as is often overlooked by all of us, without realizing it is that the observations of LeFleur. Let's look at Rodgers injury history.
Injury History
| Date | League | Injury | Details |
|---|
| Nov 19, 2006 | NFL | Pedal Foot Fracture | Rodgers was placed on IR after suffering a foot fracture. |
| Oct 10, 2010 | NFL | Head Cranial Concussion Grade 1 | Rodgers didn't miss a game following his Week 5 concussion. |
| Dec 12, 2010 | NFL | Head Cranial Concussion Grade 1 | Rodgers missed 1 game with his 2nd concussion of 2010. |
| Nov 4, 2013 | NFL | Shoulder Clavicle Fracture | Rodgers' injury forced him to miss the next 7 games. |
| Dec 21, 2014 | NFL | Leg Calf Tear | Rodgers reportedly had a "slight" tear in his calf. |
| Dec 11, 2016 | NFL | Leg Calf Strain | Rodgers' injury wasn't considered serious. |
| Oct 15, 2017 | NFL | Shoulder Clavicle Fracture | Rodgers returned for 1 game before sitting out the final 2 weeks. |
| Dec 30, 2018 | NFL | Head Cranial Concussion Grade 1 | Rodgers departed in the 2nd quarter and never returned. |
| Sep 9, 2018 | NFL | Knee MCL Sprain Grade 2 | Rodgers was carted off but later returned vs. Chicago. He dealt with a sprain and a bone bruise for most of the season. |
| Nov 13, 2021 | NFL | Pedal Toe Fracture | Rodgers fractured his pinky toe during the ramp-up exercise period as he worked toward gaining medical clearance to play in the Packers' Week 10 game vs. Seattle. The injury continued to linger throughout the season |
LeFleur became head coach in 2019. Prior to his arrival, in 2017, Rodgers had his 2nd clavicle fracture, and worked to come back. Of course his whole passing rhythm was thrown off because of how he had to deal with the injury. Then, in 2018, he suffered the MCL sprain and a bone bruise which he played through. Not only was he dealing with trying to regain his fluidity in throwing the ball from the clavicle situation, but now it was being compounded by a knee injury that also effected his play.
Now, weigh this is LeFleur, and Gute's minds. In both 2017 and 2018, Rodgers suffered injuries that were serious enough to effect his game, and there was absolutely nothing for them to look at from a coaching perspective that said he was about to return to form. In their minds, the frightening fact is that it appeared Rodgers days were done. In 2019, LeFleur's first year, Rodgers didn't look like the pre-injury Rodgers. It looked like his game had slipped. The problem is, and I said it repeatedly, even prior to 2019, Rodgers' game was going to slip because of the type of injuries he suffered. It would take time for him to get all facets of his passing game back on track. In fact, I figured 2019 would be pretty much lost to that recovery, and that's exactly how it played out.
LeFleur, and Gute didn't see it that way, and from their perspective saw a situation where they needed to find someone to replace Rodgers because the day was not that far off where they'd need to let him go, or he'd walk away from the game. In fact, Rodgers was talking a little bit out whether or not he wanted to continue until he was 40, and hinting that might not be the case one day, and saying he wanted to play forever the next. They made the decision to cover their rears, by finding the best replacement they could, as quickly as possible, and to let Rodgers fade away. I can't fault them for that, and I can't fault them for moving up to pick Love, if they honestly believed Love had the tools to do the job in the LeFleur offense.
Of course Rodgers saw it as them booting him out the door when he wasn't ready. He'd fought through injuries, and was preparing for the next season. I think - in the back of his mind - they were ignoring the fact that he played through the injuries the best he could, and blamed a lack of success on him. With his fragile ego, guess what? He got mad.
The last two seasons are a result of them making that pick, and his dedication to prove them wrong. He's worked as hard, if not harder, without any of us seeing it outwardly, to be even better than he'd been prior to the injuries. In fact, I think the drafting of Love acted as a real motivator, because he was not about to let anyone tell him when it was time to leave, he'd be making that decision on his own. But, because they did act like it was their intent, he decided to punish the organization if he succeeded in coming back.
The two MVP awards are a direct result of his anger/resentment towards management, and to offset his anger, it was going to take more money than anyone had ever been paid for 3 years of football, and possibly only two.
So, yes. I see why they drafted Love under those circumstances. At the same time, based on my personal involvement in football, I saw that the only thing lacking in Rodgers game was the field time that would help him rebuild his rhythm for the game. He would be back.
Nobody is wrong. Attacking either side doesn't make any sense. It all happened because both sides saw the issue differently, and for the right reasons, based on their perceptions.
So, cheers to all of you!
