Aaron Rodgers loves being a Jet, believes team has real shot at Super Bowl
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers reacts to a touchdown during the second half of an NFL preseason game against the Giants on Saturday at MetLife Stadium. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers hadn’t played with any of his new teammates when he said that the Jets are one of about eight teams with a chance to win the Super Bowl. After a full training camp with them, Rodgers has doubled down on that statement.
“It’s what I thought,” Rodgers said Thursday afternoon. “I believe we have a legitimate chance to do it. I’m really impressed by the leadership I’ve seen the last few months.”
Rodgers said the Jets should have a top-5 defense and could be “a really explosive offense.” They have a talented roster with stars and playmakers at all different positions. Rodgers could be the missing piece that not only ends the Jets’ 12-year playoff skid, but also brings the franchise back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1968 season.
“There’ll be a lot of eyes on us,” Rodgers said. “That could be pressure to some people. It could be expectation. It could be excitement. I choose to look at it as excitement.
“There’s a lot of people who are going to be tuning in, a lot of people are going to be following along for our season and a lot of people who are going to have a lot to cheer about, I think.”
The Jets open the season on Sept. 11 against the Bills on Monday Night Football at MetLife Stadium. Rodgers said he'll have "butterflies," but he can't wait. He spent his first 18 NFL seasons playing for Green Bay — a huge football city — but he’s loving what he’s feeling from Jets fans.
It’s all part of Rodgers’ wonderful new life.
Rodgers has built great relationships with his new teammates and has enjoyed reuniting with Nathaniel Hackett, his former offensive coordinator in Green Bay. Rodgers says he’s living a dream every single day. Sometimes he says to himself that he can’t believe this is his life now.
“I told a friend this felt like waking up inside of a dream, this whole experience, a beautiful dream,” Rodgers said. “So many times you have a great dream and you wake up and you’re like, ‘I just want to get back into that thing,’ and you can’t quite get back into the dream. I’ve woken up inside of that dream it feels like.
“It’s been really, really special. There’s a lot of times where I just look around and go, ‘This is my life now. How cool is this?’”
If Rodgers thinks his life is cool, imagine how the Jets and their fans must feel knowing that he’s their quarterback.
This franchise has been down for many years. They’re on the rise now with Rodgers and what he’s brought to the Jets from a leadership, talent and drive standpoint.
“I see an unbelievable competitor, a fire that he wants to go out there and do a lot of damage,” Jets general manager Joe Douglas said.
Rodgers knows how passionate the fans are and how badly they want the Jets to win. He said he sees people wearing Jets gear out all the time. But even Rodgers was taken aback by the reaction the Jets received at their annual Kickoff Luncheon in Manhattan Wednesday.
“It was like we were some sort of pop band or boy band,” Rodgers said. “Just a ton of fans, just like paparazzi and us standing outside the hotel we were at. Just the energy. It’s like that wherever we go.
“At the luncheon the fans and sponsors are really excited about the season. That’s how it’s been from Day One when I got here. Obviously there’s a lot of expectations. A lot of people are going to be pulling for us to fall flat, but a lot of people in our corner, which feels really good.”
Rodgers doesn’t want to disappoint anyone, especially the Jets. He said he has “so much gratitude” for owner Woody Johnson, Douglas and Robert Saleh for bringing him to the Jets and helping give him this new life.
“How cool is my life now?” Rodgers said. “I’ve just really tried to keep that perspective every day here. It’s been easy because one thing has happened almost every single day that just reminds me how I’m in the right place, I’m where I’m supposed to be and I’m really just loving what this opportunity is giving me.
“Every day I’m thinking, I won’t say it out loud a lot, I’ll just sit back and take a second sometimes, ‘How cool is this?”’
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
