Take on Aaron Rodgers -
bio piece from Press GazetteI thought he was cocky for two yrs straight. I think he is making it easy on himself by blaming the draft on his arrogance the first 2 years.
When Rodgers arrived in Green Bay in April 2005, he came off as cocky and arrogant, something that surprised those who know him.
“That’s not him,” said former Cal teammate Garrett Cross, who signed with the Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2005 but never made the team. “I think maybe he was putting on a show. I was there for part of that year, and I think maybe he was just trying to liven up his personality and maybe get some of the guys to like him. But the real Aaron is a humble guy who comes from a great family and is just really good to his teammates. He’s not real cocky.”
Said Rigsbee, who remains close to Rodgers and will be in the stands at Lambeau Field on Monday night: “I think he got some advice that he had to go in there with bravado, and I think he stepped outside of himself and got some bad advice. I’ve known him since his sophomore year of high school, and he’s always been very humble and very smart.”
If Rodgers couldn’t see it at the time, he realizes the error of his ways.
“That’s probably the most disappointing time in my career as I look back on it,” Rodgers said. “I don’t like making excuses for myself, but I feel like the whole draft process makes you have to sell yourself constantly, and I got in that mode I think of constantly selling myself to people that I got away from my true nature of just trying to be humble, deflecting credit and keeping my mouth shut. I’m disappointed in that part of my life, but I can now look back and realize the mistakes that I’ve made.”
From here, Rodgers’ actions on the field will be far more important than his life off it.
Predictions about his chances for success are all over the map, but most agree he’s in a better position to succeed than he would have been thrust into action right away, like Smith was with the 49ers.
and of course not to be undone the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has their own Rodgers piece...
here.Dropped smack dab into the beating heart of the game, Rodgers made a decision early in his career to soak up everything he could from Favre. Extremely intelligent, sometimes cocky, but always aware of his surroundings, Rodgers figured things out quickly.
“I think the first progression every quarterback makes is you come in being the guy, and if you’re not the starter you realize that there’s someone better in front of you, and that’s a big step to take because when you’re the guy you’re confident,” Rodgers said. “Second, figure out the things he does that are better than you and study it and work on those things and improve.”
When Rodgers arrived, Favre made no bones about refusing to be a mentor to him, stating in an interview that it wasn’t his job. Nobody had done it for him, and besides, Favre’s No. 1 responsibility was to win games.
Rodgers had to accept that, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to watch Favre.
“The best way to describe it was we were teammates the first year,” Rodgers said. “It was a very business relationship. But I was kind of in his hip pocket. My biggest thing was if we’re not going to be friends yet, which is fine, I’m still going to be in his hip pocket until he tells me to get lost.
“So I’d stick my head in there when he’s talking in the huddle and lean in and listen to what he’s saying and listen to him in practice. I’d watch him like a hawk. This guy is one of the greatest quarterbacks to every play, so I better figure out what he’s doing.”
What Rodgers noticed was the way Favre commanded the huddle. How he used his eyes to make it appear he was going to throw one way and then throw the other. How he never got fooled by what blitz the defense was about to run. How he anticipated exactly where a receiver was going to make his break and threw the ball before it even happened. How he never had a bad practice.
And then Rodgers would study it.
“Anytime he opened his mouth in meetings to talk to a receiver I listened,” Rodgers said. “I wrote it down. I have journals from the first three years, note and notes. Notes from computers I’ve printed out. I have them stashed in my filing cabinet.”
During his first year, Rodgers struggled badly during the exhibition season and his only extended playing time came in a dreadful 48-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. He replaced Favre in the fourth quarter and was sacked three times — twice from behind that resulted in fumbles returned for touchdowns — and threw an interception in the end zone.
It was another humbling experience, but one Rodgers took with him into the off-season.
“The highlight was talking to Deion Sanders between the third and fourth quarters,” Rodgers said. “I realized at that point, I was kind of like a kid who was just out of place a little bit, on this field with these great stars and I’m not performing. That was the most frustrating thing, and I knew that off-season I had to make some improvements to get to where I want to go.”
After the 2005 season, Sherman was fired and McCarthy hired.
All of a sudden there were new demands on Rodgers. He was required to attend off-season quarterback school, six hours of it several days a week. Then McCarthy got on him about his weight. Rodgers weighed 228 at the time and measured about 15% body fat. McCarthy wanted the body fat down to 10% to 12%.
“I fought it and I was like, ‘Why?’ ” Rodgers said. “But I think it definitely helped me out. I’m 217 right now, the lightest I’ve been before my sophomore year at Cal, and I’m a lot stronger and more fit. But I fought the system. Change has always been tough. Any type of change in my life I’ve always met with some resistance, so we butted heads the first year a little bit.”
Favre didn’t attend McCarthy’s quarterback school and didn’t make his decision to return for another year until just before the draft. When he showed up, he didn’t know any of the terminology of McCarthy’s system.
With Nall gone to Buffalo, Rodgers was the only familiar face in the quarterback room, and he was able to lean over and tell Favre which plays under the Sherman system corresponded to the ones McCarthy was teaching. It was at that point that Favre and Rodgers started to become close.
During the ’06 season, Rodgers mostly ran the opponent’s offense on the scout team. But those repetitions proved valuable because McCarthy and quarterbacks coach Tom Clements structured it so plays that were similar to those in the Packers playbook were called with Packers terminology.
Thus, on many plays, Rodgers was simulating the Packers offense.
