Rumors about Aaron Rodgers’ retirement from the NFL have been swirling around for some time now—but the Green Bay Packers quarterback is finally letting fans know his plans for after this season.
When asked at a press conference if he’s planning to throw in the towel in 2022, the Packer’s MVP noted that he “wouldn’t rule that out,” per NFL.com. “I think that I’m just enjoying this season for this season. I think that playing next year will definitely be in the thought process,” he explained. “One of the things, wanting to not be a bum on the way out and still be able to play, I think, is important to me.” So far, Rodgers has delivered a strong season for Green Bay, scoring 33 touchdowns and throwing over 3,689 yards in recent weeks—so it’s clear that his performance is still up to par.
“If this year has taught me anything, it’s that I still can play, I still have love for the game I’m still super competitive and I still enjoy the process of the week,” Rodgers noted. “I miss practice and it’s tough to not be out there, week after week now. But I still do love competing and I love being out there.”
Talk of Rodgers’ retirement has circulated since before the start of the 2021 NFL season. Over the summer, the Green Bay athlete expressed his continued frustrations with team management over their “low-ball” offers to star players over the years, which often resulted in their departure from the Packers. Yet Rodgers insisted that his grievances had nothing to do with wanting to be paid more—rather, he felt he was being sidelined from major team decisions.
The quarterback ultimately missed the team’s offseason training and sparked continued speculation of his retirement until he finally signed a new contract with the team after arriving at the Packers’ training camp in the fall. Since his return to the field, Rodgers has missed one game due to testing positive for COVID-19. At the time, news broke that Rodgers—who previously insinuated that he had been “immunized” against the virus—was not actually vaccinated. The update came as a shock to many, leaving Rodgers to face backlash over his vaccination status.
“There’ll be a lot of things that I’ll weigh in the offseason,” Rodgers added during his recent NFL press conference. “Saying that doesn’t mean, or any of the comments I’ve made, doesn’t mean I’m thinking about elsewhere, I do want to clarify that. The things that I’ve said about the team this year, about (general manager) Brian (Gutekunst) and I’s relationship has been heartfelt and genuine and I do appreciate a lot of the things I’ve seen from the team that are directly related to conversations we had in the offseason, and that was meaningful to me.” Only time will tell what he decides.
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