A moment of clarity has been given as one of the biggest stories of the NFL offseason received a major update.
Aaron Rodgers went on Pat McAfee's Show on YouTube, where he is a regular weekly guest, as he gave Pat and 430,000-plus viewers an update on the rumors surrounding him and his playing career. In a lengthy, explicit, and detailed interview, Rodgers let the world know what is happening.
"When I went into the darkness, I was 90 percent retiring and 10 percent playing," Rodgers said before he went into a darkness retreat in Oregon. After he rose from the Oregonian darkness, where he used five days and four nights of meditation and mind-clearing, he turned on his phone and had nearly 100 missed calls and texts. That's when things became more clear.
According to Rodgers, before the retreat, the Packers told him to take his time and come back to them with a decision on his future, but things changed when he resurfaced to the light. He heard "rumblings" that the organization wanted to move on from him. That's when Rodgers' thoughts on retirement changed.
Rodgers said that he would've liked "transparency" from the Packers and would've understood if they had talked to him first. That was not the case; that is when the tide turned for him. The New York Jets have been aggressively pursuing Rodgers since the Super Bowl, and he took notice of that. When Jets owner Woody Johnson, head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas boarded a private plane to fly to Los Angeles to meet with Rodgers, he told them he did not decide yet on his future and would think it over.
Aaron Rodgers said he decided to go on the show today to "set the record straight" on what is going on, not exactly to announce his decision because his decision was made days ago. The news Jets fans have been waiting and hoping to hear for the past month, Rodgers relayed to the world, saying, "since Friday, I made it clear, my intentions are to play and play for the Jets." Rodgers also said that the holdup to make this move official is not on his part but on the Packers working out compensation with Gang Green. Rodgers also noted that when the Jets hired Nathaniel Hackett as their offensive coordinator, it made the decision to want to play for the Jets easier.
Rodgers praised the Packers and how much he loved playing for them, their fanbase, and the city of Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers will now don green and white instead of green and yellow and call Metlife Stadium his new home. One thing is for sure when the trade becomes official, Aaron Rodgers will be motivated, hungry, and eager to get to work as the quarterback of the New York Jets.
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