FLOURHAM PARK, NJ – Nathaniel Hackett walked into the Jets’ auditorium, sat in one of the first seats he could find, in the front row, and had a moment with himself. He looked at the stage in front of him, surrounded by bushes, a stage and a table with three microphones. Above, there was a projector, playing the highlights of Aaron Rodgers’ career, and some of his best pitching from his long stint with the Packers.
Hackett shook his head and laughed. Moments later, Rodgers walked into the room, flanked by head coach Robert Salih and general manager Joe Douglas, as Coldplay and The Chainsmokers’ “Something Just Like This” played over the speakers.
choir: I want something just like this.
The Jets had dreams of Rodgers doing for them what he did for the Packers. they wanted to Theme, for the first time in forever. That’s what Rodgers wants, too. When he walked down the main lobby of the aircraft facility for the first time on Wednesday, two days after the Packers agreed to trade him, he noticed a shiny object sitting alone in a souvenir tin, from Super Bowl III. That was the last time the Jets won it all, in 1969. They’ve spent most of the past 54 years struggling to meet that standard, to get to fit.
Wednesday was the first step back in that direction. The Airplanes dreamed big – and their dreams came true.
“That Super Bowl III looks a little lonely,” Rodgers said, wearing a Jets Polo shirt with a smile.
When his press conference ended, Rodgers held up the Jets’ jersey, No. 8, with his name on the back.
Yes, this is real.
“I love daydreaming, and night dreams too,” Rodgers told a group of reporters after his press conference. “It’s fun to take your mind to this place. That’s why I’m here. I’m not here to be temporary and have a mediocre season. I want it all. There are a few popular franchises in the league, a lot of great franchises, but just a few. And this is one of them.” It’s because of players (like) Joe Willie Namath… It’s time for this team to get back to where it needs to be and that’s fighting for championships.”
Rodgers is a spiritual person. He believes in following the wind wherever it blows. He lets the universe tell him what to do, where to go, and how to be. He went on a four-day dark retreat earlier this year, shut off from the world, 90 percent sure he’d come out wanting to retire after 18 years with the Packers. When he did, feeling that Green Bay no longer wanted him, his mind wandered. What would it be like to wear another costume? The Jets hired Hackett, his close friend and former Packers coach, as offensive coordinator, which appealed to him. Saleh, Hackett, Douglas, and owner Woody Johnson then traveled to California to meet with Rodgers. They talked for five hours, and then Rodgers found clarity.
That’s what he wanted – New York Jets. imagine that.
“Everything just fell into place and it was the Jets, and only the Jets, for me,” Rodgers said. “At that point, I felt like this was where I was meant to be. I really try to listen for the signals and the synchronicity that the universe puts in our faces every day and that was the direction everything was pointing. There are a lot of reasons for that, but who What’s interesting is that this is now a reality.”
Between them, there was negotiation, which took longer than either side – Packers or Jets – expected, and the trade was not completed until more than a month after Rodgers publicly announced his intention to play for the Jets. Nobody on either side – Rodgers or the Jets – hesitated about the plan to get him. never was no it will happen.
“It was clear… where we were going and what we needed to do, and we got it done,” said Johnson.
Saleh said he was not at all afraid of going broke, even as rumors circulated about the involvement of the 49ers. When Rodgers first walked through the doors of the planes, Saleh slapped himHe smiles like he just won the lottery.
“Seeing him walk into the building, to me, it was like: Damn, he’s here,” Saleh said, later noting how far the Jets have come since he was appointed in January 2021.
“If anyone had asked if Aaron Rodgers could have been a quarterback two years ago, I would have laughed in their face,” Saleh said. “We’ve come such a long way. Now what we do with this is on us.”
Salih said Rodgers quickly made himself comfortable, popping into a meeting and “walking around barefoot”. Rodgers intends to stay and participate in voluntary off-season workouts in the coming days and weeks, which is the strongest sign of his commitment to his new team.
Maybe just not for this year, as many have speculated. The door is open for more.
“I think so, I really do,” Rodgers said. “They definitely gave up some shots to be here, so that’s not one thing in my mind. That’s a commitment. But it just starts with this season. I want to be present and not talk about future things.”
Rodgers has confirmed he will restructure his contract to make it more team-friendly, too, which will impact the cap in 2023 and 2024 – another sign he may still be in action.
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The crime was built in his image – a true collaboration between Rodgers and Hackett. Rodgers called Hackett “one of my favorite offensive minds ever.” And Hackett said, “We’re really close and we talk about football all the time… There’s so much about the game that we love, and we see it through the same lens.”
Rodgers will have his fingerprints all over the new Jets attack, what they do and how they operate. He passionately advocates for Zack Wilson and plans to take him under his wing. He’ll make sure wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs know what they’re doing. Rodgers is not here just to cash a paycheck and retire, he insists.
“He’s a player and he’s really a coach,” said Johnson. “He knows exactly what he wants.”
Rodgers is everything.
“I want to put my mark on the offense, the locker room and let the players know what the expectations are going to be,” Rodgers said. “It’s time for all of us to set the right expectations around this team. As I said last year after we played for (the Jets): they are not the same ‘old Jets’.
“This is a team that has a legitimate opportunity to do something special this year. So let’s show our words with the desire of our hearts and the potential we see in each other. I’m going to start doing that this week. I think we have something special here and now we all have to believe it. This is the first step in achieving Your goals – you have to first believe deeply in what you’re doing and believe in the possibility.”
Possibilities. This is what Rodgers is most excited about about the opportunity, his first in the NFL outside of Wisconsin. He grew up in a small town in Northern California and lived in Green Bay for 18 years, wondering what life would be like in a big city. He remembers moving to Berkeley, California, for college in 2003, where he lived in a dingy frat house. Even then, he said, he had a feeling of “a new chapter, of a new adventure.” “There was such a deep sigh that you take when all is well in the world, and adventure and journey are so unknown and mysterious. That is the beauty in life, because you never know what is going to happen in the future.”
After arriving at his hotel in New Jersey on Tuesday night, he undressed, lay down and tried to sleep, distracted “thinking about how special this new opportunity would be, just to enjoy it.”
If Rodgers could bottle what he was feeling, he would. Before he walked out of the press conference room, he paraphrased a line from his favorite show, “The Office.”
I wish they had told you that you were in the good old days before you actually left them.
“There’s a lot of wisdom in that and enjoying how special this moment is today, and what this journey is going to be like,” Rodgers said.
Airplanes feel it, too.
(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)
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