Chasing greatness only option for Jets
THERE is no guarantee that the risk will be worth the reward. No guarantee that Aaron Rodgers will come to the Jets as their savior and win a second ring for himself, and for the New York Jets.
But if there is a chance to light the Empire State up in green and white, you take that chance.
If there is a chance to end an insufferable 54-year championship drought, you take that chance.
If there is a chance to shoo away the Same Old Jets ghosts and silence the Same Old Naysayers, you take that chance.
There comes a time when you owe it to yourselves and you owe it to your fan base to dare to be great, and this is that time for the Jets.
“Take flight” took on a new meeting when Gang Green — owner Woody Johnson, GM Joe Douglas, coach Robert Saleh and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett — met with Rodgers on Tuesday in California 14 years after the Jets wooed Brett Favre out of Green Bay amid similar riotous fanfare for his one-and-done season with them. Now close the deal.
If Aaron Rodgers truly wants to keep playing football — he won’t make $60 million hosting “Jeopardy!” — keep whispering sweet nothings to him over the phone now that you’re back in Florham Park, N.J.
Convince him that he can be your Dark Knight.
In shining armor.
Former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum and coach Eric Mangini lured Favre to Florham Park by talking up the hunting and fishing opportunities around the owner’s Bedminster, N.J., compound.
Well, there are wellness retreats and resorts in New Jersey, you could look it up.
For two long decades, the Jets couldn’t trot out a quarterback who was anything more than a nuisance to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
They crave one who can stand toe-totoe and arm-to-arm with AFC young guns Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence and Justin Herbert.
Gone are the days of Sam Darnold and Zach Wilson seeing Belichick’s ghosts.
Aaron Rodgers, No. 12, is the best thrower of the football the Jets will have had since Joe Namath, No. 12. Rodgers is one of the best throwers of the football the NFL has ever seen.
If he is all-in, if the notion that he can be King Aaron, King of New York, appeals to him and motivates him to cement his Hall of Fame legacy in the best place in the world to win, if he is driven to prove that 26 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions during a season in which he was compromised by a broken thumb was an outlier, that reports of his decline are greatly exaggerated, would anyone care that his idea of offseason team-bonding might be climbing Mount Machu Picchu in Peru followed by an ayahuasca ceremony?
Fifty-four years trapped inside a darkness retreat is long enough.
Rodgers is a California guy, but New York won’t scare him. He isn’t afraid to speak his mind, for better or for worse. His occasional snarky responses will rattle cages and ruffle feathers and stir controversy for the back page of the tabloids a lot more often than $40M man Daniel Jones ever will. Some will consider him a jerk. Remember his immunized lie? Well, the Jets have been immunized from the playoffs for a dozen years now. Others — Pat McAfee immediately comes to mind — will find him thoughtful and insightful.
Sure he’s a drama king. Sure he can make you roll your eyes. Sure he loves him some Aaron Rodgers. Sure he’ll come off as the smartest guy in the room. We accept drama kings here. We tolerate divas — as long as they perform.
Jets fans won’t care all that much that Rodgers would take Wilson, who idolizes him, under his wing.
They will care that he will do what elite quarterbacks do — make everyone around him better. Make his team believe. Make them believe.
To Jets fans, Rodgers won’t be the Other Aaron in town.
This would be a home run. Aaron Rodgers, more than Saleh, can show and tell and teach the young Jets how to win. For once, the future would be now, with a 39-year-old quarterback who would instill fear in the opponent, for the Jets.
It sure worked out at age 42 for Brady and the Buccaneers when he left Belichick and the Patriots. Peyton Manning was a month from his 40th birthday when he won Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos.
Rodgers would also greet an emerging star in WR Garrett Wilson, another emerging star in RB Breece Hall, and what could be an elite defense that would have his back. Douglas would move to bolster the offensive line, believe you me, whether Mekhi Becton makes it all the way back or not.
There is only one way the Jets are going to take flight:
By Aaron on the side of greatness.