After 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers preps for his first NFL season outside of Wisconsin, looking refreshed and motivated with the New York Jets.
If anyone knows the feeling of a QB changing clubs so late in a career, it's Tom Brady, who spent 20 seasons with the New England Patriots before moving to Tampa Bay at the age of 42.
During Monday's episode of SiriusXM's Let's Go! podcast, Jim Gray asked Brady how that change might impact Rodgers heading into the season.
"Well, it's just, there's a different energy about it. It's a newness," Brady said. "It's a fresh start to try to take where you've been, to bring all the good and then not to bring the tough lessons, you know? Because sometimes the tough lessons always remain unless you work through 'em, you know? So it's like you go through a lot of years at one place and there's a lot of, I would say, mental scar tissue, from losses or relationships or certain experiences. Oh, this guy had said this once, or that teammate, or this coach or that general manager.
"Now you go to a new place and you have none of that. So now you can just hopefully bring your best knowing that you probably didn't do everything right where you were, but you tried your best. And now you get to go to a new place with a different type of emotional energy. And I'm excited for him. He'll be invigorated. Looks like he's having a good time up to this year. I know he has been engaged in the offseason, which is always great, and really trying to connect with his teammates. So I'm excited to see what he does. They have a really good team. They have a really good offense. And, you know, Aaron's been, when he's got good receivers, man, it's pretty dangerous. … I think he's gonna have a great year."
In Brady's first season away from Foxborough, TB12 led the Bucs to a Super Bowl title -- a feat Rodgers is looking to match.
Rodgers is the fourth QB to change teams after winning 140-plus games with one team, joining Brady (219 wins), Brett Favre (160) and Peyton Manning (141). Brady and Manning each won a Super Bowl. So, while Rodgers' journey from Green Bay to New York has generated Favre comparisons, Rodgers hopes it turns out more like Brady or Manning's late-career move.
