With Aaron Rodgers now the starting quarterback for the New York Jets after a trade this offseason, the Green Bay Packers will have a new starting quarterback in Week 1 -- 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love -- after 15 seasons of Rodgers. Teammate and Pro Bowl running back Aaron Jones described Love as "a true leader" ahead of Packers training camp opening this week. Love sat behind Rodgers for three seasons, observing Rodgers win NFL MVPs in two of them. Yet, Rodgers went out of his way to praise Love, calling him a "great one" during Thursday's Hall of Fame Game.
"I always felt like it was a part of the job to help those young guys out, and get them ready to play," Rodgers said Thursday during the Hall of Fame in an interview with NBC Sports announcers Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth. "There was a great one behind me in Green Bay [Jordan Love."
Following Love's first training camp practice as THE GUY on July 26, he revealed Rodgers, the Packers' longtime leader, contacted him Tuesday to encourage his Green and Gold successor and wish him well.
"Aaron reached out to me last night and that's exactly what he said. ... He said 'just be yourself, have fun, enjoy it, that it's obviously my time now and to enjoy it.'"
Love spent the past three seasons soaking up everything that made Rodgers the four-time NFL MVP that he is, molding some of the future Hall of Famer's best traits into his own game.
"I learned a lot," Love said of his predecessor on May 10 at his first media availability after Rodgers was traded to New York. "I was just able to watch a great quarterback: how he works every day, how he handles business in the locker room, interacts with teammates, and how he attacks every day. To be able to sit back as a quarterback and observe him, his footwork, how the ball comes out of his hands, how he practices every day and takes it into the game, is very valuable stuff that I was able to pick his brain on and watch him work. ... Watching him, watching the confidence that he has, how he operates every day, how quickly he makes calls and is able to process information, and how well he knows the system. All those little things, to get to see it from a guy who's been doing it a long time elevates your game by building all that into [my game]."
Rodgers' eve of training camp message to Love wasn't their first communication this offseason, as he went out of his way to ring Love following his trade to the Jets becoming official.
"He wished me the best, and said he'd always be there for me if I need anything or have any questions," Love said in May when talking about his conversations with Rodgers after the trade with the Jets went through. "I will always be grateful to be around him, and the time I had with him where I was able to learn and be behind him. I'm very grateful for it."
Rodgers' warm approach with Love is diametrically opposed to his predecessor, Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre, and his approach toward Rodgers in the twilight years of his Packers career.
"I don't know that the present starter [myself in that case] is paid to be a mentor so to speak or if that's part of the job so to speak," Favre said in an interview with Graham Bensinger in 2017. "I don't owe him anything in my opinion except that of being a nice guy. I don't give him any insights into what I do or don't do. I think as a starter my job is hard enough to win ball games and be a leader. You're not a babysitter, by no means am I talking about Aaron. He's the starter now. ... Nowhere does it say you have to take that guy under your wing and teach him the ropes. You don't have to do anything. What keeps you around is winning ball games for whoever you're playing for. Whether or not you take a guy under your wing, that means nothing. If there's a belief out there that I didn't help Aaron Rodgers or other players, that's wrong. To what extent did I help them and how does that compare to other guys around the league, I don't know."
With Rodgers' guidance and his own spin, Love hopes to be the third consecutive Packers quarterback to make lasting imprint on the historic franchise.
