RODGERS CAN STILL PACKER PUNCH
Green Bay legend Aaron has NEVER watched his finest moment back but he hopes to recreate it next month
AARON RODGERS’ legacy is secure, a 16-season, oneteam player who has seen and done it all in the NFL.
Super Bowl winner? Tick. Super Bowl MVP? Tick. NFL MVP? Twice – tick, tick. Member of an exclusive club of quarterbacks to have more than 400 career touchdown passes? Tick that one off as well.
But for all the things he has achieved with the Green Bay Packers since 2005, Rodgers has never watched back the greatest day of his professional life.
He capped a remarkable season by beating Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl in Dallas 10 years ago.
He hopes to recreate that special feeling in Tampa next month, with just two games standing between the Packers and a return to the big game, as he prepares to welcome the LA Rams to Lambeau Field tonight in the second round of the playoffs. But the triumph a decade ago remains locked away mentally just as much as his winning Super Bowl ring does physically.
“I might pull it out once a year,” said Rodgers (right). “I don’t look at it a whole lot.
“It’s a special relic from a special season. I had a lot of great memories from that year. The embraces after the game. They’re the special moments that stick in your brain.
“People ask me all the time ‘How come you haven’t watched the Super Bowl ever?’ And I always say ‘I’ve got all the memories right here, man’ [pointing to his head]. They stay fresh on the brain.”
Rodgers’ relationship with the club appeared to be turning sour a couple of years ago when he became annoyed at personnel decisions that he saw as damaging his chance to help the team return to the Super Bowl.
Now, under a new, young head coach, Matt LaFleur, for the past two seasons, and better players around him, the 37-year old Rodgers has a new confidence and attitude.
He said: “This year, I have been trying to cherish every moment a little bit more.
“I have a different perspective with a lot of things that happened in the off-season with my own personal growth. I’m trying to live a little more positively and with a little more gratitude every day.
“I’m thankful to have a team that has the opportunity to go the distance with the type of talent and chemistry that you’re always looking for.
“We’ve got to this point with a lot of good football and guys coming together.
So I really cherish these opportunities.
We’re going to make the most of them with everything that’s in our control.”
One man that stands in his way tonight is Rams’ defensive tackle,
Aaron Donald, a destructive force against any team.
Rodgers said:
“He’s a special player. He is a guy you have to gameplan for, be aware of where he is at all times.
“He is one of those special talents that we haven’t seen a whole lot of in the history of the game.
“He’s somebody you have to be worried about.”
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers could be heading towards another Super Bowl