21 Teams Pass on Aaron Rodgers at the 2005 NFL Draft

you got to get away from this at some point is too out of control you got to get away from this at some point it's too out of control you know [Music] yeah the NFL Draft can be dizzy still in 2005 six of the country's best college players came to New York to ride the world we got five offensive guys here one defensive guy besides Aaron Rodgers there was fellow QB Alex Smith wide receiver Braylon Edwards running backs Ronnie Brown and Cedric Benson and cornerback and trail roll no question where the main focus was the number one the projection is two quarterbacks pick'em obviously aaron rodgers and alex micellar the two quarterbacks we felt that they were the two best players in the draft that year that that's something that we established early in the process everyone knows that quarterbacks are glamorous and camera-friendly but no one knew was whether Rogers for Smith would be the topic Aaron Rodgers do you talk about a guy oh we can amp it go look like Aaron was gonna be the guy fellow will have you sign dated by the middle of next week everybody fought then the authorization back to Alex Smith used to tell you one thing tonight before the draft and another thing happened the next day so you know right now I said on the nothing's for sure even though all the conversation was about it's a choice between the two guys to me it was never much of a choice I I absolutely thought the 49ers would take Aaron Rodgers San Francisco is the first pick they need a quarterback guess what Aaron Rodgers is right across the bay they've seen him play at Berkeley this is a no-brainer like I'm from Chico three hours away went to Berkeley the best quarterback in the draft I mean let's make it happen I know for me personally longer I went in through the evaluation and more the more I like them I remember the interview with Mike McCarthy who was the offense according at the time it was about 45 minutes and I felt better about that than I did with all my interviews at the combine and my interview with Cleveland and Miami that had done already that year I said you know what they have to be impressed in regards to his workout I thought it was clearly the best or one of the best workouts I've ever seen live by college prospect I really felt like after my interview with the 49ers that there was no way that they wouldn't pick me it was it was gonna be a perfect fit me and me in San Francisco much out of team and I was gonna be wearing the red and gold welcome to the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City and to the 2005 National Football League college draft the first selection in the 2005 NFL Draft belongs to the San Francisco 49ers who are now on the clock every player in the Javits Center green room harbored dreams of going number one but one of them had a very specific reason for thinking he'd go first I know I asked him straight up what they were gonna do and then he said I think we're gonna pick you once I never forgot Tom comma the agent for Alex Smith felt different what what do you what do you what do you think we going number one so did Ronnie Browns agent you know I think most people had Alex myth number one overall but there were some people that felt like Aaron Rodgers was was in the same conversation we thought that Rodgers was the better prospect going into the car when they made the pick I was floored I I couldn't I couldn't understand it that it frankly I don't understand it now I boy was the best quarterback in this draft slightly over Aaron Rodgers and that's the direction knowing the quarterback need the way it was that they had to go well and now the pattern continues five straight years as we talked to you with a quarterback number one Alex joining I'm Manning last year Carson Palmer the year before David Carr the year before that Michael Vick the year before that and two years before that Tim Couch Alex Smith taken number one overall by San Francisco so much debate is he the guy would it be Aaron Rodgers why is Alex Smith the right guy to go number one well no question he was a guy and the Delta between Alex Smith and the other quarterback to me that's correct so I was significant and I looked at him and I see a polished college quarterback that projects well the National Football League we felt that that Aaron was probably ready to play sooner than Alex was but in the end we were kind of staying with our developing team we felt a little bit that Alex may be the little better in the long run I dreamt about being the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers so you can imagine my disappointment in 2005 when they decided to go a different direction forget living his dream Aaron Rodgers was about to endure a nightmare forget franchise quarterbacks forget franchise Aaron Rodgers we solid how far he drops is gonna be the storyline of the day but somebody's been himself a fine solid starting quarterback I think that everybody around the game thought that Aaron was gonna go in the next few picks the question now was simply how long would Aaron Rodgers have to wait of the six prospects that made the trip to New York for the 2005 draft four were selected with the first four picks the final two left waiting in the green room were Miami cornerback Antrel Rolle and Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers they are doubled Tennessee is next on the clock and Aaron Rogers still a quarterback waiting to happen he's taking a walk out of the green were a little bit I don't I don't blame him this Tennessee start to think well how many years left the Steve McNair have no we were we were fairly secure at the quarterback position at that point and we had other needs on the team one of Tennessee's needs was a quarterback and with the sixth overall pick the Titans had a choice between West Virginia's Adam Pacman Jones Auburn's Carlos Rogers and Antrel Rolle and probably like we saw three of the first five fix it back maybe three of the next five picks are these corners okay they made the pay there we go the Tennessee Titans select Adam Jones cornerback West Virginia hang in there we just felt like you know his athletic ability was different than everybody else isn't that Draft at the position well I get a chance play a long time soon after Pac Man was picked the other top cornerback prospects got the call [Applause] Antrel Rolle went number eight to the Cardinals and Carlos Rogers number nine to the Redskins that left just one undrafted player in the green room but Aaron Rodgers would continue to wait the draft offered its own human drama on television I'm gonna ask you 20 guys where does Aaron Rodgers get fit you know we have this genre of reality TV I mean the draft was really one of the first instances of reality television and that's as real as it get to see a guy have his dreams being squashed in front of you in front of the entire country the Rodgers greenroom moment is the most famous Aaron Rodgers quarterback Cal continues to wait you have to feel for that human being but it's like a car crash in NASCAR we are are you our eyes are also drawn to it which is why the camera pans in this is television now that's drama reality first-round quarterback the drama he keeps getting passed on and passed on oh the lonely Odyssey of that player a couple of weeks ago here and you are the clear-cut number one what's changed over that time yeah I wish I could tell you I haven't changed anything I think it's just perception of me or or maybe needs of the teams at the spots and I'm just you know I'm not too worried doc I'm excited about going a team that wants me and and making an impact right away on the inside there was a lot of disappointment embarrassment just thinking about you know the hard work I put in and the disappointment of had not paying off in my mind at the time as I saw you know teams passing on me that I know I'd talked to and thought were interested and it players drafted me well felt like I was better than Troy Williamson like Williams Jamal Brown Thomas Davis Travis Johnson David Pollock Rasmus Jain Alex Barron you start questioning everything from where you worked out to how hard you work to the people you surround yourself with to leave in college very humbling on the left is Darla Rodgers Aaron's mom and she's being consoled by none other than Wilma McNabb a little sympathy a little consoling once San Francisco passed on Aaron Rodgers there really isn't another team in that top 15 that is enamored with Aaron and that's why he's still sitting and a lot of people did not have Aaron Rodgers as a top 10 quarterback has flaws he has blemishes the sampling of his throws deep down the field just were not there that doesn't project well to the National Football League I really don't like this ball position because I don't think gives enough whip to throw the ball Dave deep down the field on a consistent basis here's what one of the reasons why Rodgers slid first-round contracts at that time we're not what they are today they were onerous and first-round quarterback contracts were even more onerous so if you had a highly paid quarterback ie Peyton Manning you could not afford a number one quarterback and that was true of a lot of teams as we saw Roger slipping there's teams here that have a quarterback they've already played a quarterback they can't afford to pay at number one to be a backup that was a function of the salary cap that doesn't exist today because we've rectified the problem with the rookie contract we said it if it gets past 16 first spot you could go to his 24 which is Green Man Sandman 24 well I took a lot of heat especially from my Buddy Rich Eisen prior to that draft because I had Aaron Rodgers called 24 to Green Bay in my mock draft the Green Bay Packers select and I hold my breath when I hear you say this but go ahead and say it the Packers select to at number 24 the Packers proudly step to the podium and take the successor to Brett Favre Aaron Rodgers how how in the world does Aaron Rodgers and drop that far teams either didn't need a quarterback didn't have cap space for a quarterback or had head coaches whose jobs were on the line and probably didn't want a rookie quarterback the 49ers had chosen Alex Smith number one hours later they would have the 33rd overall pick top of the second round when Aaron began to drop and drop as he did we actually at one point started to talk look guys if he gets to the end of it did we take them both and we actually had the conversation hey if Aaron's sitting there as well do we want to pull the trigger on both of them things could get interesting now for Aaron Rodgers possibly Green Bay looking for a quarterback no one's really sure how much longer Brett Favre will play about three or four days before the draft I was convinced that the best thing to do if he got to us was picking Rodgers we draft based on what we considered to be the best player available or we try to we weren't gonna do anything crazy you know moving up and things like that but we were just going at the draft play itself out and hope against hope that it would work out I told him at the time when I made the call and they told we were going to pick him that I thought maybe some divine intervention had played a part with the 24th selection in the 2005 NFL Draft the Green Bay Packers select Aaron Rodgers California [Applause] a lot of people in this crowd they've been reformed all day [Applause] once aya was picked I think the reality of living out a childhood dream and you know what I'm in the NFL now let's focus on the positives started to kick in things are definitely worth the wait Rogers quarterback at a cow had to weigh almost 5 hours what was this day like for you it wasn't the easiest day but as long day not a lot of things went the way we thought they go but I'm just so excited about being able to go to a team that wants me entertainment I can learn from the greatest quarterback of our day right now and I'm just excited they could have that great room and I couldn't be happier with the team that picked me and what next year and the years that comes gonna look like being a Packer he likes it's kind of ironic the guy that probably faced the most if you want to call embarrassment during the draft the cameras on and everything is falling is he turns out to be the best one in the entire draft as it shows today you made a lot of guys careers just by that one peg when I look back on players that have made it versus players that haven't and where they've been drafted in the draft there's really no more I'm a reason to it you know it the best of us the best of us that over time about 575 but that varies from year to year there are drafts that are great and graphs that are not so great the 2005 draft may be best remembered for two quarterbacks one who waited nearly five hours to be selected and one chosen first overall down alex smith again this is alex smith this one is at a fine career he really has and he's a good player but like it's not even close between the two guys it still baffles me to this day why the choice went down the way it did it was difficult but it was honestly the best thing to happen to me i was 21 years old i thought i was the best thing since sliced bread and i need a little bit of humble pie I'm not complaining right now where I'm sitting my career looks pretty good you

Channel: NFL Films

Views: 5,357,012

Keywords: NFL, Football, NFL Films, American Football, aaron rodgers, green bay, packers, draft, drafts, 2005, story, throwback, green, room, rooms, team, teams, pick, picks, player, players, best, top, 21, 24, 49ers, browns, titans, cowboys, wait, stories, 2005 draft, aaron rodgers draft, american football, green bay packers, nfl films, nfl draft

Id: byr00d5QrLI

Length: 16min 2sec (962 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 09 2018