Greg Jennings Talks About Vindictive Aaron Rodgers & Green Bay

Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers (Photo: Getty)

Greg Jennings time in Green Bay didn’t end before he knew it. He says that an interaction after the Packers faced off against the San Francisco 49ers showed him that his time was up.

In 2012, when the 49ers hosted the Packers, cornerback Carlos Rodgers asked Jennings why he was running short routes despite being one of the faster guys in the league. Jennings replied that his contract was up after the season. Then, quarterback Aaron Rodgers stepped in. Jennings says he said, “You guys should get him at the end of the year.”

“I don’t think he realizes what he said and the impact that it had,” Jennings said. “Had the shoe been on the other foot and I said, ‘Hey, man, I should come and play with your quarterback,’ he would’ve been so offended by that. But when it comes out of his mouth—and we all know there’s truth behind jokes—for him to say that and just act as though everything was the same? It just wasn’t.”

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Things changed after that. Jennings told his position coach his time with the team was up. Despite spending six years with the team, as well as going for 4,619 receiving yards and scoring 34 touchdowns in three years, the team let him walk. Rodgers didn’t even reach out to Jennings when he hit free agency. The wide receiver wound up on the division rivals, the Minnesota Vikings.

Jennings, now in a successful career as an analyst at Fox Sports, said he tried to get Rodgers attention while covering the game as a media member but was ignored. He claims Rodgers was mad when the wide receiver went to talk to Brett Favre when he was a Viking after a 2009 game.

After the 2018 season, critics of the quarterback were vindicated. His team was falling apart, he put up poor numbers compared to the rest of his career, and the Packers missed the playoffs. But still, they had to acknowledge his talent. Jennings later said, “Just as much as Rodgers is a part of the problem, he’s a big part of the solution.”