The New York Jets introduced Aaron Rodgers as their new starting quarterback Wednesday, just minutes after Rodgers’ trade from the Green Bay Packers became official.
Rodgers was tanned, relaxed, and — most fascinatingly — billboard-ready with a fresh haircut and a trimmed beard.
He spent his introductory news conference trying to manage expectations — both for how long this new marriage will last and whether it’s Super Bowl or bust now that the Jets have built what, on paper, appears to be a super team.
Give Rodgers two points for effort. But nothing he says now will matter this fall and winter, particularly if the Jets’ grand vision fails.
New York Jets Introduce Aaron Rodgers
“I’m not here to be a savior of any kind,” Rodgers told a packed house of reporters at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, N.J.
That’s completely understandable.
But it’s also not in the least bit realistic.
Rodgers instantly becomes the best quarterback to ever put on a Jets uniform and, even at 39 years old, is more than talented enough to not only get New York back to the playoffs for the first time since 2010 but also make a deep run.
The Jets, at 14-to-1, have the sixth-shortest odds to win it all — something they haven’t done since Joe Namath called his shot in Super Bowl III.
So there’s more than a half-century of disappointment, pain, rage, and — at times — apathy Rodgers is walking into.
Not to mention a New York media that will bounce on any misstep and a leadership team that faces likely near-certain termination if that playoff drought does not end.
Rodgers, of course, considered all of that during his darkness retreat, which is where he decided that after 18 years, he wanted out of Green Bay.
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And if it didn’t occur to him on his own, his agent surely pointed it out to him at some point in the last two months.
No. Rodgers was all-in on forcing his way to New York. And the Packers finally obliged, but not before holding out for an improved first-round pick in 2023, a likely first-round pick in 2024, and two more picks this year.
“When you win in a [place] like Green Bay or New York, you go down in history, and there’s something special about adding that to your legacy,” Rodgers said Wednesday.
Rodgers has given observers — including this website — plenty to criticize over the last few years. But one thing no one can doubt is his situational awareness.
He misled about his vaccination status in 2021 because he knew what the reaction to telling the truth at the time would be.
His news conferences in Green Bay have, at times, felt as much like therapy sessions as interviews.
So believe him when he says this: Rodgers wanted to go to a place where he could not only win but where winning would be meaningful.
Ending the longest playoff drought in major American sports would be meaningful.
Having a parade down the Canyon of Heroes would be meaningful.
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All of that was part of Rodgers’ calculus when picking a new team.
He’s gotten what he wanted in this transaction.
Now it’s time for him to deliver to the Jets — and the fans — what they need: A return to excellence.
“It’s joy,” Rodgers said when asked why he’s returning for a 19th season. “You want to be having fun in what you’re doing. If you’re not enjoying it, it’s time to do something else.”
Perhaps 2024 will bring a career change for Rodgers. On Wednesday, while he later hinted at a plan that includes playing multiple more seasons, he didn’t he didn’t commit to playing beyond 2023 during his news conference.
If he’s one and done in New York, the Jets gave up a king’s ransom for that one year.
But if that one year ends with confetti and a trophy ceremony, it will have been mission accomplished.