AP Photo/Aaron Gash
Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers believes his maturity as a person has allowed him to keep playing at a high level at this stage of his NFL career.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers explained he is “giving less f–ks” and developing a maturity from “aging, from making mistakes, from failing, from being too sensitive at times, from taking things too personal at times” as he enters the twilight of his career.
Pat McAfee @PatMcAfeeShow
“It really comes down to giving less fucks & that’s what I’ve tried to do the last couple years.. there’s a lot of joy in being unapologetically yourself” ~<a href=”https://twitter.com/AaronRodgers12?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@AaronRodgers12</a><a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/PatMcAfeeShowLIVE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#PatMcAfeeShowLIVE</a> <a href=”https://t.co/YmrripWVGO”>pic.twitter.com/YmrripWVGO</a>
Rodgers believes this attitude and perspective have allowed him to age gracefully in a profession that doesn’t historically reward athletes in their late 30s.
Even though it’s strange to think about now, there was a time not that long ago when analysts were questioning how much longer Rodgers would keep playing.
Rodgers had a solid statistical season in 2019 with 4,002 yards and 26 touchdowns to help the Packers win the NFC North with a 13-3 record.
But some of the underlying numbers suggested Rodgers was nearing the end of his peak. He had the two lowest QBRs of his career in 2018 (58.0) and 2019 (52.5). He led the NFL in throwaways during the 2018 season (59) and was second in 2019 (39).
Whether or not the Packers’ decision to draft Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft awakened something in Rodgers, he certainly found another level in his game before the start of last season.
Rodgers has completed 69.7 percent of his attempts for 8,276 yards with 83 touchdowns and just nine interceptions in 31 games since the start of 2020. He is on track to potentially win his fourth MVP award, which would put him one behind Peyton Manning for the most in NFL history.
The 38-year-old would also be the first player since Manning (2008-09) to win back-to-back MVP awards if he gets the trophy this season.
The Packers are 26-5 in Rodgers’ starts during that span and enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the second consecutive year.
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