"Life without football felt pretty good" - Aaron Rodgers ponders over the idea of life after retirement
After a turbulent offseason in which he skipped the team's voluntary OTAs and mandatory minicamp, Aaron Rodgers got to feel what retirement could feel like.
Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show as he does every Tuesday, Rodgers gave an insight into his feelings about what it felt like during his quarantine and hinted it felt like retirement could be like:
"I got to feel that. I think regardless of who we are, there's at least a minimal level of fear about what that next chapter looks like and I feel like this off season I faced that down and said, 'It feels pretty good.' Yeah, I'm not worried about life after football."
Rodgers missed the locker room during his COVID quarantine
During his ten days away from the team after testing positive for COVID, the reigning NFL MVP assessed where he is at in life.
"This offseason I faced down what life would be like without football & it felt pretty good.. being away from the squad again with Covid I really missed the guys & there's so many great things I cherish about being in the locker room" ~@AaronRodgers12
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It also gave him a little preview of what life after football could look like for him, and he admitted he missed his teammates and what went on in the locker room:
“I mean it was quiet and I definitely missed the guys. When I spent time this off season, to work on myself and away from the team and enjoying my time off, it kind of started to feel like what retirement might be a little bit... There were periods where you're like, 'I miss the game.' But I enjoy what I'm doing now. I missed the camaraderie and the competition in the locker room."
Rodgers and the Packers are coming off a loss to division rivals the Minnesota Vikings, in which they lost on a last-second field goal.
Rodgers was in good form, as he has been most of the season, throwing for 385 yards and four touchdowns in the loss. Up next for the Packers is the Los Angeles Rams' high-octane offense.
.@AaronRodgers12 was dealing in Week 11:
🧀 23/33
🧀 385 passing yards
🧀 4 touchdowns https://t.co/bcyZ72zy1s
While testing positive for COVID is not ideal, the time off certainly gave Rodgers an insight into what his life post-football could look like after being on the fence regarding playing this season.
It does appear that he is comfortable with where he is at right now, having the Packers in Super Bowl contention. Will Rodgers be in Green Bay when next season rolls around? That is one of the most significant situations to watch in the offseason.