Aaron Rodgers talks: Did you know he’s only had one pick-six? And that he likes John Wayne?
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports photograph
If you haven’t listened to Aaron Rodgers on the radio, you should.
Rodgers, who appears weekly on ESPN Milwaukee, is relaxed and seemingly feeling at home as he talks about a lot more than just x’s and o’s. In fact, it seems like he intentionally tries to stay away from football talk as much as possible.
When he sat down earlier this week for his weekly radio interview, it wasn’t real clear what topics would be addressed, and that seems to be half the fun. Before this week’s show was completed, Rodgers had revealed who some of his favorite western movie actors were, had talked about some of his worst travel stories and even told us about an interception statistic for which he’s really proud.
When he was talking football, he discussed the interception he threw against the 49ers last weekend – you know, the one that went through Jermichael Finley‘s hands and ended up in the hands of 49ers safety Eric Reid.
What Rodgers is most proud about is the fact that he has thrown just one pick-six in his career – at Tampa Bay in 2009. Though he didn’t say it, a bit of research revealed that the Packers have the fewest pick-sixes allowed in the league since 2008 when Rodgers became the Packers’s starter. In all, the Packers have thrown just two over that time span. The other was thrown by Matt Flynn against the Patriots in 2010.
As you might know, Aaron Rodgers doesn’t like throwing interceptions.
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports photograph
Here’s what he had to say: “I hate throwing interceptions … pick six – one in my career.” He then talked about making the effort on the tackle to keep Reid out of the end zone: “I took the angle to meet him … got on my horse and threw my body,” he said. As far as style points, Rodgers said the tackle on Urlacher in the NFC Championship Game earned him more points … “Urlacher one was better. I looked a tad more athletic [in making the tackle].”
He went on to describe his impressions of his newest State Farm commercial; that it was filmed in Milwaukee, but also described a couple of bad travel stories “… I was on a plane in Chicago and we sit on runway over three hours … and then we finally hear ‘United Flight … shut your engines down, you’re #22 in the lineup … so we get up in air … it’s late … and I’m awoken to ‘is there a doctor on board’ … It seems there’s a woman a couple rows back who turns out to be having panic attack …”
He also described a landing in Portland when the planes brakes didn’t engage … ” … I got to thinking, ‘this isnt good. Something’s wrong here. Why are there five fire trucks and three ambulances here?’ Luckily the runway we landed on was very long.”
Rodgers was also reminded in the interview that Ryan Braun had been personally calling season ticket holders to apologize for his recent issues. “I haven’t gotten one of those calls,” Rodgers said curtly.
On football …
He describes the flight back home after a loss … “they all bother you if you’re competitor.” He describes the process a football player must master – the watching of film, the need to be critical, and the need to move on in a short time.
On the rivalry that seems to be growing and evolving between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers: “These are two really good football teams. NFC West [has been developing a] reputation [for] tough physical football teams. … there’s a respect on both sides. It’s a team we would love to see in the post season.”
He also dwelled a bit on the bootleg run for a first down he called, the catches made in the game by Jordy Nelson and how the receivers are just
Jordy Nelson
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports photograph
coming into their own.
He also admitted that while the Washington Redskins were playing the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday night that he was spending some of the time watching tennis. “I’m a lover of all sports.”
But he did say that the Redskins are a very well coached team with a nice mix of young players and veterans. He said that they are a team with a dynamic offense and that one way to beat them was to keep Green Bay’s offense on the field and the Redskins off – something the Packers were unable to do against the 49ers.
But before the night was out, Rodgers said that while in college he spent a lot of time watching the move, “Tombstone” and that he loves anything with John Wayne in it.
So as I said at the top, if you haven’t taken the time to give this weekly show a listen, you should. It’s Aaron Rodgers in a whole new light.