Regardless of the outcome of the Jets’ final game of the season against the Dolphins, it appears polarizing quarterback Aaron Rodgers may have reached the end of his NFL journey.
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Several hours before the meeting, NFL Network informant Ian Rapoport mentioned that “people close to him that I know well are preparing like it’s the end.”
Rapoport is credible and generally doesn’t throw anything to the wind. Expect Rodgers to ridicule him during his next visit to the Spectacle de Pat McAfeewhere he often repeats that even the most connected informants do not have access to his entourage.
We shouldn’t conclude that Rodgers played his final career game against the Dolphins, but there are some signs that may indeed suggest that his career is over.
This week, he was particularly introspective during his press conference with the New York media. He took the time to thank everyone who had a positive influence on him, including his high school coach.
During his team’s last practice, he swapped his jersey adorned with the number 8 with the 56 of linebacker Quincy Williams. And nothing better to complete the circle than his 500th career touchdown pass obtained against the Dolphins, he who became only the fifth quarterback to achieve this feat.
Rodgers never changed his speech. He reiterated this week that he will make a decision on his future before the free agent market opens in March. That he first needed a “mental break.” He repeats that he himself does not know what will happen next.
A bad final grade
If Rodgers really decides that football is enough and goes somewhere to get his Ayahuasca supply, good for him.
The fact remains that he cannot retire simply by choice. Statistically, some would say he didn’t have such a bad season. In fact, he seems to be a shadow of his former self.
If we must salute his admirable determination to recover at the age of 41 from a delicate rupture of the Achilles tendon, he has still not been the same player since his return.
-His mobility is definitely no longer the same and it is increasingly difficult for him to escape the pressure. Four times this season, he missed his shot with the game in hand on a final possession.
Rodgers had to transform the Jets. However, they are worse than last season, when he was injured after four short matches.
Barring an unexpected turnaround, the Jets won’t want him anymore and will start from scratch. What about other teams, if he really wanted to play another season? Not sure that the yield proposed this year inspires confidence.
A superb career
Where we need to be careful, however, is when some go so far as to say that his time with the Jets will have tarnished his legacy. This is absurd!
Everyone has the right to like Rodgers or question his opinions. In recent years, he has often seemed arrogant and on the pitch, his non-verbal language towards his teammates is not very inspiring.
In the end, though, Rodgers will have had a tremendous career. His detractors will say that such a talented passer should be strutting around with more than a Super Bowl championship, but several other great quarterbacks have none.
Rodgers has the best touchdown-to-interception ratio of all time. We’re talking four for one, never seen before!
Rodgers also has four regular season and one Super Bowl MVP honors.
It would have been better, in the best of all worlds, for his career to end at the top of his game in Green Bay, rather than in the monumental fiasco of this season in New York. Whether people liked him or not, he still fully deserved the right to try to extend his career elsewhere.
This unfortunate mess with the Jets clearly does not define his career, which will fittingly end in the Hall of Fame in five years. Provided of course that he finds the wisdom to hang up his shoulder pads now rather than stretching the sauce further.
