On the first day of a new off-season, and a new era in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers lit into last week's Bleacher Report story written by former Packers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Tyler Dunne.
The story details how the Rodgers-Mike McCarthy relationship fractured over their 13 year run and the pointed words Packers President Mark Murphy reportedly told Rodgers when he hired Matt LaFleur as McCarthy's successor.
According to Dunne, Murphy told Rodgers, "don't be the problem." to which Rodgers blasted back, "It's ridiculous, it's 100 percent patently false."
Rodgers was interviewed by ESPN Milwaukee radio hosts Jason Wilde and March Tauscher and the interview began airing on Monday.
As for his relationship with McCarthy, Rodgers said if it was that bad, why would the Packers re-sign me to a long term extension and if we continued to win as we had in the past, the two would likely work together through the end of his career. Rodgers also spoke at length about how McCarthy should be treated while taking a year off but continuing to live in Green Bay.
“We had a hell of a run. We had 13 years, four NFC championships, one Super Bowl, eight straight playoffs, 19 straight wins. . . . So, instead of trashing this guy on the way out, let’s remember the amazing times that we had together. Packer fans, remember this, especially those of you who live in Green Bay: Mike lives here. Mike has young kids here. So Mike has to be here. Think about how difficult it is for him. My favor that I would ask of you, strongly, is if you see Mike, shake his hand. Tell him thanks for the memories. Tell him thanks for the coaching job that he did. Tell him how much you appreciate him being a part of what we built here. Things change from ‘06 to ‘18. We came off of a bad season in ‘05 and we built something special and had sustained success, so instead of trashing this guy on the way out — last year was tough, no doubt about it — but let’s honor him and his legacy as the second-winningest coach in Packers history. If you see him, please, just show him the respect that he deserves. Not only does he have to live in Green Bay, he wants to. He loves it here. He’s going to be here. So, if you see him, do him that favor and show him the respect that he deserves.”
Rodgers characterized the entire story as a "smear attack" that extensively quoted two "irrelevant and bitter" former players. The two players quoted most in the story were former receivers Jermichael Finley and Greg Jennings.
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