GREEN BAY — Aaron Rodgers has always been a Marshawn Lynch fan.
And so, as the Green Bay Packers quarterback prepares to see his old University of California teammate yet again on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game — knowing that he was thisclose to being his teammate in the NFL in 2010 — even Rodgers couldn't help but wonder what might have been Wednesday.
"I thought it was a possibility, for sure," Rodgers said during his pre-NFC title game press conference Wednesday afternoon.
As the trade deadline approached in October 2010, the Packers were in dire need of running back help. Ryan Grant, who'd had back-to-back 1,200-yard seasons, had suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the season opener, and James Starks — the rookie sixth-round pick who would wind up being the running game's savior during the second half of the season and the Packers' run to the Super Bowl XLV title — was on the physically unable to perform list with a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills had finally decided — after getting calls from the Packers and other teams — to trade the unhappy Lynch , whom they'd taken No. 12 overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. Rodgers wholeheartedly endorsed the idea at the time. Lynch would have had two ex-Cal teammates — Rodgers and linebacker Desmond Bishop — in the Packers locker room with him.
"He's a great player," Rodgers said then. "And any character issues the team might see, I think in a situation like that, and I think you've seen that with other players across the league, when you give a guy a change of scenery and a guy like that who feels he might have something to prove, and surround him with two guys, Bishop and myself who played with him, I think that can only help him feel comfortable and see a lot of production."
In five seasons with the Seahawks, Lynch has run for 5,930 yards in regular-season play and another 658 in the playoffs. He had 1,306 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns this season.
On Wednesday, Rodgers recalled his time with Lynch at Cal and how close the Packers were to acquiring his old college teammate.
The Packers had liked Lynch coming out of Cal — they'd hosted him on a pre-draft visit and were hoping he'd fall to them at No. 16 that year — and they did make an offer to the Bills before the trade deadline. But while Seahawks general manager John Schneider — the ex-Packers executive who was in his first year as Seattle's GM — was willing to part with a 2011 fourth-round pick (No. 122 overall) and a conditional 2012 pick that ended up being a fifth-rounder, Packers GM Ted Thompson would go no higher than the team's 2011 fourth-round pick (No. 129 overall).
Had Thompson been willing to part with his 2011 third-round pick (No. 96), the Bills likely would have taken the deal. The Packers ended up using that pick on Hawaii running back Alex Green, who was a disappointment.
It all worked out in the end, of course, as Starks helped the Packers to the NFL title and Thompson ended up nabbing Eddie Lacy in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Lacy has had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and has some similar qualities to Lynch.
"He was on the market for what didn't seem like a whole lot getting out of Buffalo. I think they ended up taking that offer based on where the pick would lie in the draft because of the records," Rodgers recalled Wednesday. "So it'd be interesting to see any of the what-if's if he had come here. But Eddie's a very similar-style back, as far as not being taken down with the first defender, running through arm tackles, his ability to catch the ball and make something as well. And both Marshawn and Eddie are great blockers in the pass protection."
At Cal, Rodgers said, Lynch was a good teammate. That's what Seahawks players say, too, despite Lynch's occasionally questionable behavior.
"He was a lot of fun to play with. He's a great player," Rodgers said, recalling that the Bears had J.J. Arrington, Justin Forsett and Lynch in their backfield during his final season at Cal. "Marshawn was an extremely gifted athlete. He used to always challenge me in throwing competitions. I won't say I beat him every single time because he's got a heck of an arm — distance wise, not accuracy.
"But he was a great teammate. We had a lot of fun. Oakland guy, so he loved being in the Bay Area and representing for his city, as he used to say. But he's a talented guy. It's been fun to watch him and follow him and see him at various events."
Here are Rodgers and Lynch interacting at halftime of a 2013 preseason game at Lambeau Field:
Jason Wilde wrote: