There is something beautiful about the way Aaron Rodgers floated above it all Wednesday. With a half million people tuned in to The Pat McAfee Show to hear him talk—largely unchecked and unquestioned—one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history managed to place himself atop the franchise he was leaving behind, saying he intends to play for the Jets, and then quietly shove said franchise onto the pavement just ahead of a steamroller.
This is the vulnerable, tucked-forward position Green Bay has assumed for the past several years with their mercurial star. It has been a willing victim, so long as Rodgers continued to play at an MVP level, and now that the franchise has decided to back out of the relationship, Rodgers would like you all to know who really is to blame.
While there is no moral high ground in the NFL—absolutely anyone who has made it to this level has plotting, scheming and double-crossing sewn into their bloodstream—it was fascinating to watch Rodgers scramble for it as he listed his favorite stores and restaurants in Green Bay and waved goodbye like a graying figurehead in the back of some gold-encrusted carriage.
