Not everyone’s a fan of Aaron Rodgers joining the New York Jets this offseason. One legendary Packers safety is especially not fond of the move.
It took a disappointing season finish, one darkness retreat, several appearances on The Pat McAfee Show, and a whole lot of waiting, but Aaron Rodgers finally made his decision. He’s going to the New York Jets.
The Green Bay Packers legend will coincidentally follow in the footsteps of Brett Favre, who also joined the Jets late in his career; what Rodgers sees as a refreshing opportunity to compete for a Super Bowl, others see as a ruinous end to his pristine Packers legacy.
Leroy Butler, who played safety for the Packers for his entire 12-year NFL career, brought up the impending Rodgers trade on Twitter and believes Rodgers is making the wrong move. The Hall-of-Famer told the future Hall-of-Famer that he took three pay cuts to stay with the Packers and “didn’t have to leave to realize how good I had it in Green Bay.”
Aaron Rodgers move to New York is heavily criticized by Packers legend Leroy Butler
The atrocious formatting and use of punctuation aside, Butler’s take pretty much falls on deaf ears. Rodgers likely couldn’t care less what the Packers legend says about the trade and is going to New York because it’s just the best thing for him to do at this stage of his career.
In his bombshell announcement on McAfee’s show earlier this week, Rodgers heaped praise on the Packers organization and the fans for all the support they have given him in the last two decades. Rodgers says again and again that he will always be grateful to the Packers and consider the franchise as his home, but linguists will note that he constantly spoke about his life in Green Bay in the past tense.
From Rodgers’ perspective, Green Bay moved on from him during his offseason darkness retreat, and now he’s trying to do the same.
For all the talk about Rodgers’ lasting legacy, yes, it may have been nice for Butler and the cheeseheads to see Rodgers retire as a Packer and only a Packer — that in itself says something about a player’s loyalty and love for a franchise.
But look at it this way: did Tom Brady’s G.O.A.T. legacy get tainted because he left the Patriots for the Bucs? Not at all. It only proved that he could achieve greatness on a new team with a new coach and under different circumstances.
Like Brady and the Pats, Rodgers’ time with the Packers has run its course. He’s given his blood, sweat, tears, and heart to the only franchise he’s ever known, and with Jordan Love prepared to take the reins in 2023, Rodgers is absolutely allowed to finish his career on his own terms. Screw what the legends say.
