In one of the most highly anticipated matchups of this entire 2025 NFL season, the Green Bay Packers will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in prime time on Sunday Night Football, with the big storyline obviously being Aaron Rodgers not only taking on the team with which he spent 18 years but also the quarterback that replaced him, Jordan Love.
Love, of course, was taken by the Packers in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft with the 26th overall pick. Naturally, Rodgers was none too thrilled with the selection, as he was still playing at a ridiculously high level, which he proved by winning back-to-back NFL MVPs in 2020 and 2021.
Despite being disappointed, Rodgers wasn't going to let Love suffer the way he had when Green Bay drafted him in the first round in 2005, when Brett Favre was still playing at a high level.
Favre had absolutely zero desire to serve as any kind of a mentor to the man who was clearly brought to town to take his job, but Rodgers went the other way, as he was willing to help Love in any way he possibly could, even if Love didn't specifically ask him to, which Jordan commented on this week during the buildup to Sunday night's battle.
"I was real quiet in the quarterback room," Love said. "I was trying to just sit back and watch him. I tried to stay in my lane, but A-Rod was great at trying to find ways to incorporate me into the room and give me little pointers."
Now, the second we heard Love say that, we couldn't help but remember a fantastic piece written last year by Packers beat writer Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, as a little chunk of his story discussed how Love not saying much in meetings actually cost him money.
Aaron Rodgers hit Jordan Love with "quiet fines" during his rookie season
During Love's rookie campaign in 2020, the Packers implemented a system of fines in the QB room, one where an infraction for any number of reasons was turned into "fine points" that got turned into how many darts each QB or coach would throw at a board in the room. The person with the highest score was then forced to buy everyone else a gift.
Schneidman described how Packers head coach Matt LaFleur would fine himself if he made a bad joke or how Rodgers would do the same for being too sensitive. There are far too many things to be said about Rodgers being sensitive, so we'll refrain. But I digress.
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As for Love, as mentioned, he didn't really say much in meetings back then, as he was just wanting to sit back and learn. As such, Rodgers would actually fine him for being too quiet.
"He wasn't talking, so we had to find a way to get his fine points up," Rodgers said. "So we just tagged him with a bunch of quiet fines all the time … It'd be a conversation, he wouldn't say anything for a minute. Quiet fine, Jordan."
Just fantastic, right? Well, maybe not for Love back then, who obviously wasn't playing under the four-year, $220 million contract he is now, but he knew it was all in good fun, as everyone just wanted him to feel like part of the family.
"If I didn’t say anything, somebody would blurt it out," Love said, "whether it was him, (Nathaniel) Hackett, (Luke) Getsy … That was always fun and obviously it got old, but I racked up a ton of quiet fines throughout the year."
Love will obviously be looking to take all that apparently costly knowledge he acquired from Rodgers in those meetings and put it to good use to get a win over his predecessor in what likely will be the only time these two ever square off.