Aaron Rodgers recalls reaction to Packers drafting Jordan Love: ‘No F–king Way’ | News, results, highlights, stats and rumours

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ASHWAUBENON, WISCONSIN - JULY 29: Jordan Love #10 and Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers practice during training camp at Ray Nitschke Field on July 29, 2021 in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

The Green Bay Packers shocked the NFL world in the 2020 NFL Draft, selecting quarterback Jordan Love with the No. 1 overall pick. 26 instead of adding a player who would make a more immediate impact on a team that had just gone 13-3 and reached the NFC Conference Championship Game behind quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

During the new Netflix documentary, Aaron Rodgers: Enigmarecalled the quarterback about his reaction to that decision.

“I looked down at my phone and my agent just texted me, ‘Quarterback.’ And I was like, ‘No f—king way,'” he said (h/t Ryan Glasspiegel of New York Post). “Then the election happens and I immediately got off the couch and was super non-reactive. And I just went to pour myself some tequila and went back to the couch and knew there were going to be some interesting conversations.”

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Aaron Rodgers: Enigma opens on December 17th.
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Rodgers had publicly supported the idea of ​​drafting a wide receiver at the time, which might have taken a 13-3 Packers team over the top during the 2020 season. Instead, the team lost in the NFC Championship Game for the second year in a row.

The Packers then went 13-4 in 2021 but lost in the divisional round and went just 9-8 in 2022, missing the postseason entirely. Rodgers was the league’s MVP in both 2020 and 2021.

The decision to draft Love is often seen as the beginning of the end of the relationship between Rodgers and the Packers, who traded him to the New York Jets ahead of the 2023 season.

In hindsight, the move has worked out just fine for the Packers. Love has become a solid starting quarterback, leading the Packers to a 10-4 record this season and a playoff berth last season. Rodgers, meanwhile, missed nearly the entire 2023 campaign with an Achilles tear and has had an up-and-down 2024 season for the dysfunctional Jets.

But there will always be questions about whether the Packers could have better maximized Rodgers’ best year and their championship window by approaching the 2020 draft differently.