Aaron Rodgers: Green Bay Packers quarterback says his lone Super Bowl win was ‘too way back’

Aaron Rodgers can nonetheless recall sitting on his carpet as a child and watching his idol Joe Montana play within the Super Bowl, and describes his personal Super Bowl success as being “everything I thought it was going to be”.

Yet, almost 12 years on from his Green Bay Packers’ 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, Rodgers has but so as to add additional to his trophy cupboard, with some heart-breaking near-misses in recent times solely including to his sense of frustration.

Named Super Bowl MVP at solely 27 years of age, Rodgers may have been forgiven for having Montana and Terry Bradshaw’s document haul of 4 titles in his sights. Instead, Tom Brady has soared past each with seven Super Bowl wins whereas Rodgers has stayed stagnant on one.

‘Super Bowl home windows are getting smaller’

“It’s too long ago,” Rodgers stated, in an unique interview with Sky Sports. “It was so special, like a blur that week.

“I used to be 27 years outdated and thought that this was the usual, that we had been going to get again right here many, many occasions and win extra of those trophies.

Aaron Rodgers celebrates his sole Super Bowl success again in 2011 when he was 27 years outdated

“Especially as you get older, you realise the windows are getting smaller and the opportunities are getting fewer.”

That precocious 27-year-old is now a extra grizzled 38 and aged additional nonetheless by 4 defeats when on the doorstep of the Super Bowl, within the NFC Championship recreation, 4 additional divisional spherical losses – just like the one suffered at residence to the San Francisco 49ers final season – and one wild card exit within the intervening years.

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Highlights of the San Francisco 49ers’ conflict with the Green Bay Packers of their divisional spherical of the playoffs

Green Bay have been seeded within the prime two of the NFC convention on 5 separate events, No 1 3 times – with Rodgers named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in every occasion (in addition to in 2014) – however solely to then come unstuck within the playoffs.

“I’m always thinking about plays I could have made, things I could have done better,” Rodgers stated.

“It’s tough. The finality of it is always difficult, the swiftness with which it comes on – that you’re done.

“And there’s an implicit information that that is the final time this group goes to ever be collectively.

“It’s never going to be the same. We’re never going to be the same people, there’s going to be changes, not everybody is going to be a part of this moving forward, there’s coaches, players that will leave – they’ll get traded, cut or retire.”

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NFL Head of Europe & UK, Brett Gosper, says Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers could be very enthusiastic about enjoying a regular-season match in London this 12 months

‘Adams like Messi and Ronaldo – an artist’

There has certainly been turnover in Green Bay this offseason, notably on offense the place offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett has turn into head coach on the Denver Broncos – briefly resulting in hypothesis that Rodgers may observe – and star broad receiver Davante Adams has been traded to the Las Vegas Raiders.

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Las Vegas Raiders broad receiver Davante Adams’ first landing for the staff was a shocking fingertip seize in crunch time

Rodgers, a eager sports activities fan, likened Adams’ work to “Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant… [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo, maybe even Kevin De Bruyne, where it becomes an art form”.

So, it was no shock then actually to see a Packers offense with out Adams battle of their opening recreation of the 2022 season, placing up solely seven factors in defeat to their NFC North divisional rivals, the Minnesota Vikings.

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Highlights of the Green Bay Packers in opposition to the Minnesota Vikings from Week One of the NFL season

But Rodgers is selecting to make use of the group’s inexperience, notably at receiver, as a optimistic.

“There’s a lot of guys that I don’t know that well and that haven’t won. And so they’re hungry,” he stated.

“I definitely try and attach some of that hunger and young energy every time I step in the building.”

And that starvation is unquestionably nonetheless there for Rodgers, even having lived by way of the playoff heartbreak of the final decade and along with his years advancing and his future alternatives within the recreation diminishing.

“Every year is special because it’s finite. And I think it’s good to keep that perspective.”

He added: “I have a lot of motivation. True motivation comes from within.

“I put in a number of work this offseason, mentally and bodily to be able to play on the highest degree and I’ve the final two years as nicely.

“It’s like a challenge as you get older and your body might not want to work the exact way it used to work. I love that challenge.”

“I enjoy letting people know what I’m thinking, what I’m feeling, and I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I’ve had some opinions that have been polarising, but you know where I stand. For a long time I was quiet about a number of things and there were narratives that came up and spread like wildfire that weren’t actually based in any truth. I think I got to a point where I was like, ‘enough is enough, I’m going to take back some of these narratives’.”

Aaron Rodgers on his relationship with the media

‘Playing for Green Bay means you are a part of historical past’

Precisely how lengthy Rodgers will proceed to like the problem is as but unknown, although he, for now, ended hypothesis over a possible exit from Green Bay by penning a four-year contract extension again in March that may earn him a league-high $50 million per 12 months over the primary three years.

“The fabric of this organisation is so dense,” Rodgers stated of his satisfaction in enjoying for the Packers. “There’s been so many iconic players and coaches here, it kind of means a little bit more because you know you’re part of the history of this franchise – even more now.

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Watch the top 10 plays by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the 2021 NFL season.

“In your first 12 months as a participant, it is thrilling, it is Lambeau Field, it is the primary time. But while you’re a participant in your 18th 12 months, it is actually significant to nonetheless be doing it and to know that your identify is amongst these names which have performed and had success at this iconic franchise.

“No player has been in Green Bay longer than I have, as far as years played. And we’ve had some iconic names, from Bart Starr to Brett Farve, from Reggie White to Ray Nitschke and on and on and on… Vince Lombardi, Curly Lambeau [who the stadium is named after].

Aaron Rodgers took over as Green Bay Packers quarterback from Hall of Famer Brett Favre

“To be now talked about eternally in reference to this staff is particular and I do not need to lose sight of that.”

Though his time in Green Bay and in the NFL generally might be nearing a close in the coming years, Rodgers doesn’t fear retirement. “Not in any respect,” he said.

“At some level the trip will finish. And you have to be prepared to get off, shut the chapter and transfer on to one thing else.”

And when that point does come, what legacy would he like to leave behind in Green Bay, with many Packers greats honoured with streets named after them? Rodgers, as always though, is setting his sights higher.

“The larger, the higher. A stadium perhaps?” he added, jokingly.

Watch Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in motion in opposition to the Chicago Bears in Week Two of the 2022 NFL season, reside on Sky Sports NFL from 1.20am within the early hours of Monday morning.