Rodgers took hits on, off the field in 2008 - JSOnline
Aaron Rodgers absorbed the hits and mostly held everything in, which went against his very nature. Then he braced himself for every awkward encounter. At the store, a function, an interview, he mentally dropped his dukes and prepared for yet another cheap shot.
Didn't we all remark at how bravely Rodgers handled that messy, painful transition of Brett Favre's departure? Didn't we admire his maturity, class and strength? Before we ever knew Rodgers could thread a needle 50 yards downfield or take 50 sacks and get up every time, didn't we marvel at how the man held his head above the sewage flow that was the summer of 2008?
But really, we had no idea. . . .
About the nasty letters. The hateful comments. The intrusion on his property. The brazen confrontations.
Two years ago, as Green Bay's first new quarterback in 16 years, Rodgers thought the only way to handle angry fans who still wanted No. 4 at the helm was to speak up but not out, to make people laugh and to take the verbal sacks.
Privately, however, his days as the punching bag certainly were numbered. He would not take the body blows forever. He was young but he was no victim. And so when the calendar changed years, Rodgers changed his own rules.
"I was really beat down," Rodgers said. "My teammates helped me out a bunch.
"But in '09, I just said, 'I'm going to take back my life.' "
Rodgers sits under a shaded cabana hut in the backyard of his beautiful house in the hills of San Diego. This is the kind of place where shoes are optional year-round. He's barefoot. It's July, and he just came back from his favorite week in the summer, golfing in Lake Tahoe with Michael Jordan and every other celebrity in the sports world.
He's in a great mood. He opens up.
This used to be a subject that was off-limits, that would get a "no comment" through clenched jaws. Rodgers will share it now, only because he was asked - again - and because he'd like to explain that Sunday armor does come off.
And he heard those boos at that first Favre-less practice in 2008, the sarcastic rooting for the New York Jets, the hecklers every time he wound up.
And he felt those boos during Family Night, when he made his official debut as the Packers' starting quarterback at Lambeau Field.
And his jaw dropped at the kid who cussed at him.
He was often aware of the nasty comments on local and national blogs.
He found his truck keyed at Miller Park.
He read derogatory comments written on his driveway (although we must chuckle at that because it was written in sidewalk chalk).
But it was no joke when he and former teammate Ruvell Martin were harassed at a gas station.
The letters, well, there were too many to count.
"It was ugly," Packers receiver Greg Jennings said. "They didn't always mean harm. But it was very harmful, what they were doing.
"I remember this one lady saying, 'I'm a Favre fan. I don't dislike Aaron; I just don't like the fact that he's our quarterback.'
"I was like, are you serious right now? This guy hasn't done anything! He didn't ask to be here. He didn't ask to get drafted by the Packers. He didn't ask to be behind a future Hall of Famer. He didn't ask Brett to leave."
Rodgers didn't tell most of his teammates what he was experiencing, and two years later most of them still don't know.
"I heard and saw the fans say things. I heard things at practice. Fans are not always nice," running back Ryan Grant said. "Aaron kept that to himself as much as possible."
Even in the sanctity of his home in Green Bay, Rodgers could not escape the jabs.
"It was all the stuff that was said on TV," receiver James Jones said. "The guy took so much heat on TV and I mean, you watch ESPN, you watch NFL Network, and everybody is just saying bad things about you. That's tough to deal with."
Even as Rodgers kept it to himself, the Packers who once blocked and bled for Favre clamored to support Rodgers because they could sense he needed it.
"The more moral support he got from us, that other stuff kind of fell on deaf ears," Jennings said. "Well . . . deaf ears . . . we still heard it. But he handled it better than anyone with some of the most pressure you can have. Yeah, that was ridiculous.
"It was very disappointing to me to hear those boos. You want to boo the guy who is supposed to lead you to a Super Bowl someday? It was very disappointing, but at the same time we knew we had to support him. We kind of took ownership. We had to make plays. We have to make plays for this man."
Buoyed by their support and mentally strong already after a lifetime of being overlooked, Rodgers put up a front for the public. He said most of the right things. He threw for 4,000 yards. He fought off injury. He played well and faced his critics.
But remember the grunge hair? No accident. Everything Rodgers does, even down to his physical appearance, has a purpose and so did that beach-bum look.
"I don't take myself too seriously. I grow my hair out, grow a mustache in training camp. It's for comic relief," Rodgers said.
It was, in part, a way to get all the guys on the team to at least laugh with him and maybe that would lead to unity.
"Well that's my secret. It's not going to be a secret anymore obviously," Rodgers said. "There's not many things that I do that aren't thought out. I'm not just a whimsical person. If more people are going to talk about my mustache than Brett Favre in 2008, that's a win for me. It's not like I just woke up one day, 'Oh, I am going to do this.' "
Whenever possible, Rodgers flashed a disguising grin. But by the end of the year, he'd heard enough.
"People have some funny ways of trying to get under my skin," Rodgers said. "The common one is just comparing me to Brett. Which . . . it doesn't affect me. It doesn't affect me at all.
"I don't want to be him.
"I just got to a point where I couldn't not do something about it. It hurts when I open my car door and a guy yells 'F you' to me. You just hold all that in, and I have a hard time holding all that in."
In the end, that 2008 season was a mixed bag. Rodgers played well but the Packers finished with a 6-10 record. At least the world could put the transition in the rearview mirror.
"I said, 'I'm going to take back the normalcy that I want,' " Rodgers said. "In '08, I didn't really do much, I didn't go out much. But in '09 I was like, whether we win, lose, whether we're terrible or I'm terrible or whether I play well, I've got to be myself. I'm going to go to the restaurants I want to go to, go to the store when I need to."
Last year, the 11-5 Packers went to the playoffs and Rodgers played brilliantly. He had once vowed to turn the Family Night boos into cheers, and he did it.
"I couldn't think of anybody just going about his business better than Aaron," Grant said. "I bet it just motivated him even more. He played with a chip on his shoulder."
Now seen as a quarterback in his own right, and not Favre's replacement - which is really all he wanted - Rodgers also has allowed his outspoken side to come out. Now that he truly feels like the leader of a strong and proud franchise, the strong and proud son of Chico, Calif., often shares his viewpoints on wide-ranging topics, from urging former teammate Aaron Kampman to embrace the new 3-4 defense, to critiquing football TV commentators to even telling someone on Twitter to get a life and get out of his.
Rodgers almost always has a thought on any issue. That's not new. He just feels comfortable expressing it now.
Of course, he must choose his battles. Rodgers started to tell another story but stopped, explaining that he's not looking for pity. Then he seems like he doesn't want to get into it.
He's nudged.
While Rodgers was golfing in Tahoe, a fan lashed out.
"A guy said he hopes I break my F-ing leg this year because I didn't sign his jersey," Rodgers said.
Rodgers paused, for such a long time it seemed only the birds in the palm trees were going to continue.
"How does that not affect you? I mean, it affects me big-time," Rodgers said. "I can't believe that guy had the audacity to say that to me. And he only did it because there's a gate between us and there are 200 witnesses if I were to punch his lights out.
"What kind of person says that, in general, in life? Saying something inappropriate because I can't punch you back or I can't do anything because I'm a public figure and you can sue me?"
He adjusts his aviator sunglasses and for a second the irritated anger in his eyes is unmistakable.
"In no way did I tell the stories of '08 to try and draw any sympathy from anybody," Rodgers said. "More to draw an awareness of the fact that we're people first. And, how ridiculous is this.
"I have gotten to the point where I don't feel like I should be just a punching bag that can't punch back. If someone says something highly inappropriate, then there's no reason I shouldn't respond. It's ridiculous."
The subject is changed. There are 9 million stories to share in the life of 26-year-old Aaron Rodgers. This was just one chapter. It has been told and it's over.
Rodgers reclines, grins and relaxes again, but that body language is deceiving. He is tougher than ever and ready for any fight.
"A lot of people were partial to Brett Favre and rightfully so," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "That's just them stating their loyalty to Brett. But I knew once Aaron started playing, that wouldn't matter.
"And I think it's over. It's done with. This is his time."
