As Aaron Rodgers exits the Lambeau stratosphere a split exists amongst the Green and Gold fan base. Cheeseheads seem to fall into one of three categories primarily. You’re either upset he’s leaving and think it’s a mistake, happy for the career he had but ready to move on, or celebrating his departure as a finally free moment. For the seemingly large contingent of fans in that third category Kyle Brandt of NFL Network took a moment during his interview with Rich Eisen to address their mindset.
“You sweet, sweet people…you people of Eau Claire, Oshkosh, Sheboygan, Baraboo…You have no idea what it’s like they’re out there. You are trust fund fans. You’ve never had to worry. You’ve never had anybody else but a first ballot quarterback for your lives…We’re not just talking about young people in high school who don’t remember, we’re talking about people who are in their 30s with children and families who think that’s just what you do. You don’t have to worry about quarterbacks, it’s always going to be the killer.
Believe me as someone who grew up in Chicagoland and they’ve been looking for a quarterback for over 100 years it’s rough out there. There are soup kitchens, you are standing around a barrel fire hoping that some quarterback will come play for you that’s even decent. I think there’s a hubris of some Packers fans who just say ‘get him out of here we’re sick of him. He’s too weird, he drinks strange tea.’ You know what he drinks? He drinks the tears of Bears fans every single year, normally twice a year…How dare you celebrate that man’s departure. I’m telling you watch what happens when you’re 0-2 0-3 and Rodgers is in New York just cooking and you go ‘well Jordan Love isn’t the next Hall of Famer.’ Just be very careful throwing Mardi Gras because the best player you’ve ever had, not a debate, is leaving and you guys are gonna be trading him.”
Insults aside there is a large part of the fan base that agrees with Brandt. But there are a couple of arguments against his comments. The first was eloquently presented by Eisen immediately. The lifelong Jets fan defended those who feel they are rightfully fed up with Rodgers antics.
“The only pushback I will give is that Rodgers himself has done a couple of things that has maybe alienated part of the fan base or made them feel like enough is enough on their own hand and they’d be happy to continue with him if it weren’t for a handful of things that did happen, were it on the field or off the field.”
Unphased Brandt doubled down.
“I hear you, and I think it’s a really really ugly divorce playing out. And we saw it on Pats show last week. There’s nothing joyous there’s nothing fun…I would just say of course he’s a lot. Of course he’s a headache. If you think a guy going back-and-forth on retirement or giving eccentric interviews is a headache try having 3rd and 12 and going incomplete every single time and then punting and punting and punting. It‘s what most of the world does and it’s what you guys haven’t done since the early 90s. Just be careful.”
Here’s where the second argument comes in. Obviously any organization, given the two choices, would rather have a Hall of Fame quarterback than not. But that is not the only way to build a Super Bowl champion. The Baltimore Ravens won just as many titles as the Packers in far fewer years with Joe Flacco and Trent Dilfer. We get it, it sucks to lose Rodgers and it’ll be tough if Jordan Love isn’t any good. But maybe it’s time for the focus in Green Bay to be on building a proper roster and spending very little money on the quarterback position. The Packers last Super Bowl run came during Rodgers rookie contract. Coincidence?
It sucks that Kyle has had to watch the Chicago Bears quarterbacks be terrible forever, but he’s also had to watch their front office be terrible forever. The Green Bay Packers draft and develop. It’s possible removing Hall of Fame quarterback money leads to a team that is just a decent cheap quarterback away from a magical run.
Brandt is not wrong in his simple premise though. There’s no need to celebrate Rodger’s departure. We should be celebrating his career. At the same time there’s no need to buy into the idea that we should be careful what we wish for. There’s absolutely no reason to adopt the mindset of a Chicago Bears fan.
