Aaron Rodgers Documentary: ESPN E:60

[Music] it was his team and he just earned everybody's trust week in a week out [Applause] snapped the rogers i've had a chip on my shoulder since i was 17 years old i've always felt like my skills have been underappreciated i've been overlooked and felt like i deserved an opportunity never got it francisco 49ers select alex smith getting passed in the draft that was probably the best thing that happened hopefully he watches me and gets something from that my contract doesn't say i have to get aaron rodgers ready to play roger's play [Applause] what has it been like since the super bowl uh it's been a roller coaster [Applause] rogers play action look to the end zone rainbows now that he's won a super bowl [Applause] now that he scrubbed away the bad taste left behind by his immediate predecessor now that he's recognized as perhaps the best quarterback in football it's easy to forget that aaron rodgers success wasn't guaranteed at every step from high school to college from the day he was drafted to the day he stepped in to replace brett favre as the green bay packers quarterback aaron rodgers has been doubted i've always felt like my skills have been underappreciated i've been overlooked and i've had a chip on my shoulder and felt like i deserved an opportunity you know one of his favorite poems is the world less travel and i think he's done that you know he's gone down a road that hardly anybody's had to go down [Music] the middle of ed and darla rogers three sons aaron was a 49ers fan growing up in chico california two hours northeast of sacramento from as early on as he could write he had a playbook and he was drawing up plays all the time x's and o's and he'd take his little gi joe guys and line them up on this wooden football pad that dad built him and he would do plays when aaron was nine the family relocated to oregon his father at the age of 38 had decided to switch careers and return to school to become a chiropractor the things that we did the kind of living on the edge basically we moved up there really on faith we didn't have a lot of money i was going through school my wife was working hi honey things got tight money got tight my mom and my brothers lived at my aunt's house they have a llama ranch in southern oregon we raked up some poop and cleaned the pens out for a few months and one day i went to summer school i think those are great character lessons you know just life lessons that i think are invaluable to go through after aaron's father graduated the family moved back to chico aaron was in middle school where he excelled in baseball basketball and especially football we wanted him in private school but to get into this school you had to do an interview with the principal and one of the questions she posed to him was what are you going to do for the school and without batting an eye he just goes well i'm going to improve your sports program uh well confidence is something i've never really lacked i think there was one yeah yeah you can laugh that's okay uh that to me is the most important quarterback trait because you have to have confidence in yourself in order to instill confidence in your teammates in 2000 as a junior rogers became the starting quarterback at pleasant valley high school in his two seasons there rogers with the time was only 5 foot 11 was twice named all section and set multiple school records more than anything he wanted to play quarterback for bobby bowden at florida state inside the five and into but florida state didn't want rogers nor did any other division one school he kept his rejection letters as motivation from schools that said they they had no interest in them maybe he should consider division three he kept them visually in front of him to motivate him why do you think no one believed in you far too much weight is is put into your height your weight your 40 time your bench press the things you can't measure your character your confidence your mental toughness your physical toughness not as much weight is put into that and fortunately enough i was i was able to fly under the radar i think it's the best thing to happen to me rogers division one's loss was butte's gain as in butte community college just a few miles from roger's home in chico rogers was that rare football prospect attending junior college not because of poor test scores in fact he'd scored 13-10 on his sats at butte in the fall of 2002 rogers who'd grown to six foot two threw for 28 touchdowns and nearly 2500 yards still he went largely overlooked when you're in the season and nobody's calling you start to wonder if if you're gonna have to be a junior college for another year i felt like you know my future was beyond you know going to butte college then in early 2003 jeff tedford the head coach at cal berkeley came to butte not to scout rogers but one of his receivers coach tedford comes out and goes can i come in and see some film i show him one play where he takes a three step drop throws that slant um for a touchdown and tever just turns off the projection and goes hey that's the best quarterback i've ever seen that kid will play in the nfl someday well you had a brilliant career here at butte college and uh going to be moving on now i guess is it cal berkeley pretty sure right now but uh you know it's been fun butte has been everything i've ever hoped and uh and even more and i got him on the phone that night and told him what i thought and told him we were going to offer him a scholarship ladies and gentlemen [Music] he was at a different level the way he throws the football touchdown california you know i knew right then he's going to be a first round pick in 2003 his first season at cal rogers shot all the way up to number one on the depth chart i was able to pass up a number of guys highly recruited highly touted who maybe didn't have that same feeling of needing to prove themselves all the time and i did and that just drove me like crazy his first year here the virginia tech game against great speed against great competition he just picked them apart the next year as a junior rogers carried cal to as high as number three in the national rankings after that season he decided to enter the 2005 nfl draft and experts predicted that the 49ers his hometown team would make him the first overall pick the san francisco 49ers select alex smith quarterback utah [Applause] [Music] rogers didn't go first or second or third he didn't go in the top ten he didn't go in the top 20. then as the draft continued he became an object of pity in morbid curiosity a couple of weeks ago aaron you were 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 perceptions of me or or maybe needs the teams at the spots and i'm just you know i'm not too worried he had to really persevere and be a gentleman for five and a half hours with cameras just hovering around hoping there would be a breakdown and it's embarrassing you know the whole world's watching your phone's buzzing every two minutes and you're hoping it's a team calling but it's just your buddy saying hey nice hair nice suit smile a little bit you know kiss your mom you know just this making jokes and and it's hard to laugh in a situation where you know everybody's laughing at you somebody's going to get themselves a heck of a steal he falls down the board a bit with the 24th selection in the 2005 nfl draft the green bay packers select aaron rodgers quarterback california well we're just glad he's on a team we're glad that uh no more picks went by you get drafted by a team that's got a guy at quarterback who has only played like 7 000 consecutive games there and is going to the hall of fame what was that like [Music] you get drafted by a team that's got a guy at quarterback who has only played like 7 000 consecutive games there and is going to the hall of fame what was that like you know what to be honest it was i was so relieved i got picked but i hadn't really studied anything about green bay and i couldn't really tell you on a map where wisconsin was for aaron rodgers slipping to the 24th pick in the 2005 draft was a disappointment but going to the packers meant there'd be no immediate pressure to play it's going to be fun just meeting the teammates and the coaching staff and being able to start to jail with this team it also meant that eventually he'd be under tremendous pressure as the man tapped to replace brett favre how helpful was brett to you when you were his understudy i think the the most helpful thing was watching him i got to see his mannerisms the way he conducted the huddle and just tried to take the good things i saw uh and incorporate those into my own game what about on a personal level were you guys close i thought yeah i thought we were i really did you know the first year was it was a tough year i'm sure there was some some feelings of uh frustration that they that they picked his potential successor in the first round knowing what that means we're all you know we're all men we understand it's a business and we know you know what kind of statement it is when you take a guy in the first round that guy's gonna have to play at some point my contract doesn't say i have to get aaron rodgers ready to play now hopefully he watches me and and gets something from that it wasn't the easiest year for me you know five but then in 06 and 07 it was just him and i and and i thought our relationship really really got i got strong and he realized that i was in his corner that changed after roger's third season in 2007 favre retired but soon changed his mind and all but demanded his job back what was your reaction when he decided to unretire at lobby to return to green bay a lot of confusion a lot of confusion and um surprise i was surprised i'd put in a lot of work in the off season and i'd be i would be disappointed if i didn't get an opportunity this year but knowing that it was out of my control your thoughts on the possibility of brad may be coming back the next couple days would you welcome him back me and brett have never had a problem so there wouldn't be any issues between uh between us i'm incredibly proud of how he handled all the pressure of following the legend brett favre he got caught in a very very difficult political mess that's something i would i wouldn't wish on on a lot of people it's not a it's not a fun situation to be in having to get in front of 50 cameras a couple times a week and answer the same questions was difficult and you know maybe a little unfair as well why unfair because the situation was was bigger than all of us involved i was the guy caught in the middle of of a struggle and it was out of my control the packers stood firm with rogers trading farv to the jets much to the dismay of many of their fans i'm thankful for an organization stood behind me and and told the truth and and stuck to their guns and that's all i could ask for my teammates stood beside me and it was a difficult time it was but i have no regrets about about the things that i said in front of cameras and the way i i carried myself we're excited about being able to move forward together as a team now we wish brett nothing but the best in 2008 his first season as a starter rogers was solid but struggled at times as the packers won only six games it was his team and he just earned everybody's trust week in and week out but aaron rodgers was ready to play when it was his turn the following year the packers finished 11-5 and reached the playoffs and rogers who was named to the pro bowl threw for 30 touchdowns and nearly 4 500 yards through he has that cali swagger i call it he's confident in his own ability and it's almost like can you stop me late in the 2010 season rogers engineered one of the greatest runs ever in the nfl the packers won their final six games including three playoff games on the road and super bowl 45 in which they defeated the pittsburgh steelers 31-25 the lombardi trophy is going back home to green bay he put together probably the finest six-game stretch that i've ever been part of he kept getting better and better as the season wore on as the challenges heightened aaron stepped his game up how do people you think treat you different now that you're a super bowl champion and a super bowl mvp well right or wrong i think it just gave me my game some legitimacy and and you know it's funny to think if we had lost you know what i would i not be considered a lead quarterback or would i still be in the shadow of the former quarterback that played here i'm just thankful we won that game what's your relationship with brett now i don't have one i don't have one just haven't talked to him no congratulations after the super bowl i haven't talked to him what did you tell him after the game i was so proud of him and after that he said my goals have changed mom i don't really desire anymore to be the best quarterback in the nfl he goes i want to be remembered as one of the best men that ever played quarterback in nfl after winning super bowl 45 the challenge for rogers now is coping with the pressures and demands of stardom in may he became the face of the mack fund a milwaukee-based charity that combats childhood cancers knowing that all that money is going to go to research that may give loved ones you know another few days another week another year might find a cure for a kid with cancer to give him a chance a normal life it's humbling very humbling one of those children is jack bartos a 10 year old from heartland wisconsin who's been fighting cancer of the nervous system for the last six years jack met aaron rodgers a few weeks after the super bowl what do you think of aaron rodgers as a football player he's awesome why because he chucks it really far jek has relapsed about six times at this point and each one of them more devastating than the next jack and his family were invited to join rogers at a mac fund event in may in milwaukee late in the evening jack was called to the stage what does it mean to you when you see a nine-year-old boy like jack who has struggled so much express how much it means to him that you two have a relationship yeah i mean i'm floored i'm just completely i mean i'm at a loss for words like it's just really touching it's a deep deep sense of just longing for that kid to to have the chance that i had when i was nine years old to be healthy and to play sports and and enjoy life and know that he's got to go to texas next week and start another phase of chemotherapy just breaks your heart for most of his life aaron rodgers went unnoticed he was ignored overlooked but after leading the packers to victory in super bowl 45 all that has changed it's my touchdown dance so you're a dancer no i'm a quarterback everybody in the state and beyond wants a piece of you right now great job where do you find the wherewithal and the patience you know what it's it's an honor to to play for the packers and the privilege but at the same time you kind of lose part of that disability to be a human being sometimes good luck to you stay healthy all right that's right you're often you know maybe more of a commodity than a person you know what can what can they get from you for the super bowl mvp there's no shortage of opportunities in wisconsin in particular rogers is everywhere we were with him in july when he shot a commercial for a local bank mark okay guys here we go it's ready and action now that you're back in uniform for the first time since the super bowl how does it feel to have this this outfit on i'm just wondering what the heck i'm doing is that part of the deal oh is this the actual uniform this is the actual yours i mean you brought it from home or whatever uh yeah no the packers sent it down actually oh okay do you like show tunes are you kidding me so this is what you're talking about all those months to lock out getting back in the uniform it was to be in this situation with just right here yep next to penny you have to get a man up here in pedicure action lose the cleats pal you're in for a medicare is this going to hurt oh no i don't think so there's a phrase now going around in my business when we do an athlete we hope he's going to be a peyton manning he's a peyton manning i think he's got a big future in media i think he's got what it takes hello aaron rodgers oh my oh while acting may or may not be roger's calling his passion unquestionably is music he recently created his own label suspended sunrise recordings and signed its first ban the make from chico california his hometown it's really what i want to do when i'm done playing i've hired people who are a lot smarter than i am to help run that when i'm busy with the season but it's it's fun for me to to take a project and challenge myself to take it from where it's at to where i wanted to to go to be successful he's very assertive but he carries himself really well and he knows business really well everything's you know very black and white and laid out and we all communicate about it and we make it happen so it's it's really cool before the 2011 season the make shot a music video for its hit single get it at a local bowling alley in rogers hometown rogers naturally made a cameo music to me is so intriguing because it's something i don't do well i love the scene that is music and and hearing good live music to me there's there's not much better unless you're at a big time sporting event tonight you take the field for the first time in an nfl regular season game as a super bowl champion what is the routine on game day well it's usually not coming out here talking to you but uh we appreciate the exception being made no i just i like to just relax get into a relaxed mode and make sure i'm just thinking about the right things a couple little reminders that i need to think about during the game and then i'm ready to play what thoughts are uppermost in your mind misses a new challenge new season a new team so we're just excited about 2011. let's see what happens beginning with that night in september rogers would lead the packers to a 15-1 record their season would end however in a home playoff loss to the eventual super bowl champions the new york giants still rogers was named the nfl mvp as he threw for 45 touchdowns and nearly 4 700 yards at 18 he was the backup at butte community college at 28 he's the biggest star in the game when you think about your career and your life the last 10 years what do you see as kind of an overarching theme here um i think kind of the the underdog the underdog story um and that's kind of been a positive for me that might not be how somebody from the from an outside perspective sees it but i just kind of always kept that those doubters on my mind and enjoyed the opportunity to prove those those people wrong everything that you went through must now only make what you've achieved seem that much more gratifying am i right yeah i'd say that's that's correct statement that's why you get the grin the journey is the sweetest part no doubt about it to be able to achieve the ultimate success i win a circle last year this kind of brings brings some closure to i think the first part of my career and i think hopefully we can kind of close that book put it on the shelf and start writing a new chapter you

Channel: Packer Nation United

Views: 18,125

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Id: -hZSxZ_sYLA

Length: 24min 20sec (1460 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 29 2021