With Aaron Rodgers officially leaving the Packers to join the Jets, the superstar quarterback addressed his departure from Green Bay publicly for the first time since the trade.
Rodgers took to Instagram to say goodbye to the Packers organization, Green Bay fans and everyone whom he encountered during his 18 seasons with the team. The quarterback has only played for the Packers since they drafted him in the first round in 2005.
“I’m not sure it’s possible to fully express the gratitude that I have to the Packers, our incredible fans, the state of Wisconsin, the thousands of players that I crossed paths with, the incredible men and women who work for the organization, and the amazing people who I got to meet along the way, in one post with 10 pictures, but I hope you read this and feel my heart and soul, filled with love, joy, and peace about my time in green and gold,” he wrote in the post.
.@AaronRodgers12 pens farewell to Green Bay 💚💛 pic.twitter.com/Hg3xuj3aGD
— NFL (@NFL) April 25, 2023
Rodgers included a photo montage from his time in Green Bay, including winning the Super Bowl in February 2011. Throughout the post, Rodgers thanked myriad people that have been in the Packers organization since he was drafted.
“I grew up in Green Bay, drafted at 21, fell in love with the game, met some lifelong friends, and take with me memories that will last a lifetime,” he wrote.
The list of names includes Mike McCarthy, Matt LaFleur, Ted Thompson, Brian Gutekunst and Mark Murphy. He also thanked members of the equipment staff, training room, PR staff, weight room and front office individually, and then thanked the fans and his former teammates as a group.
“To the fans, THANK YOU, you made every run out of the tunnel special, every home game magical, and it was my honor to be your QB,” he wrote. “To my teammates, I love you all, and am thankful for the moments on and off the field that brought us close. I played with legends, I played with friends; thanks for believing in me and having my back always.”
Finally, Rodgers closed with a touching message to Packers fans.
“This is not the end for us, I will see you again Green Bay, you’ll always have my heart,” he wrote.
Rodgers will be introduced as a Jet on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.
