The Green Bay Packers continue to insist publicly they have the Aaron Rodgers situation well in hand. They’re not going to trade him. Everything will be fine. He’ll come to his senses eventually. Just sit back, relax, and wait for all of this to blow over. Yet it seems like they’re blissfully ignorant of the fact that they’re the ones who caused this entire clusterf**k, to begin with.
They were the ones who hired a new head coach without even consulting him. They were the ones who drafted Jordan Love last year without even warning him it would happen. Now they want to play the victims in this situation when Rodgers decides to hold out because he’s angry at management? That is rich. The best part though is the team brass just keep finding ways to make a bad situation worse.
Particularly Mark Murphy.
The team president answered fan questions in an article a week ago. It was here he all but accused Aaron Rodgers of dividing the fanbase. He said this unprompted by the way. None of the five questions he answered even mentioned Rodgers by name. So he brought the situation up by himself. He concluded by stating the less both sides say publicly, the better.
That is why what happened next is so utterly delicious from the perspective of Chicago Bears fans and others. Murphy couldn’t even heed his own advice for longer than a week. During an event at Lambeau Field, he opened his mouth yet again. When addressing the reasons why the team and Rodgers haven’t found common ground, Murphy gave the vocalized version of a shrug.
“I’m often reminded though… of Ted Thompson, as most of you know, just a great general manager, passed away (earlier this year),” Murphy said. “(Thompson) often talked about Aaron, that he’s a… and it wasn’t just Aaron, a lot of different players. He would say ‘He’s a complicated fella.’”
“So, I’ll just say that,” Murphy said.
That is sure to make Aaron Rodgers see reason
This marks the second time that Murphy hinted to the public that Rodgers is the problem. Not the team. Rodgers staying away is dividing the fanbase. He and GM Brian Gutekunst just can’t reason with the guy. He’s too complicated. It is so obvious Packers management is doing everything they can to shift blame towards the quarterback without saying it directly. They’re totally innocent in this situation.
Here’s the thing they seem to be forgetting. Aaron Rodgers isn’t stupid. He knows what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to turn the fans against him. To guilt him into stopping this nonsense and just come back. He saw what happened to Brett Favre. How fans quickly turned on him when he and the team finally broke ties. Does he want that to happen to him too?
There is just one tiny problem with that logic.
Green Bay still loves Favre. He’s revered by Packer fans today like he always was. This despite returning to play for the Vikings for two years. There was never erasing the many great things Favre gave the fans during his incredible career. The same will be the case with Rodgers. Especially if he decides to simply step away from the game rather than just be traded. This strategy by Murphy isn’t going to work and could blow up in his face spectacularly if Jordan Love doesn’t end up being good.