Aaron Rodgers answers Kenny Mayne's trade demand question
Aaron Rodgers has broken his silence after reports of him wanting out of Green Bay surfaced during the NFL Draft in late-April. Appearing as one of many special guests for longtime ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne's final SportsCenter broadcast, Rodgers said "anything's on the table at this point."
Asked by Mayne if he's demanding a trade, Rodgers didn't give a yes or no answer. Instead, he gave a long-winded response about how much he loves Green Bay, his teammates and coaching staff, but made no mention of the front office.
"With my situation, look, it's never been about the draft pick, picking Jordan. I love Jordan. He's a great kid. A lot of fun to work together. I love the coaching staff, love my teammates, love the fan base in Green Bay. Incredible 16 years. It's just kind of about a philosophy and maybe forgetting that it is about the people that make this thing go. It's about character, it's about culture, it's about doing things the right way," Rodgers said.
"A lot of this was put into motion last year and the wrench was just kind of thrown into it when I won MVP and played the way I played last year. So this is just kind of, I think, a spill-out of all that. But look, man, it is about the people and that's the most important thing. Green Bay has always been about the people. Curly Lambeau being owner and founder in the 60s with Lombardi and Bart Starr and all those incredible names to the 90s teams with Coach Holmgren and Favrey and the Minister of Defense to the run that we've been on. It's about the people."
The name Rodgers most obviously didn't mention during his response was Packers GM Brian Gutenkunst. Just weeks ago, Bob McGinn of The Athletic confirmed a report from Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson about Rodgers wanting Gutekunst fired.
McGinn reported that Rodgers has ridiculed Gutenkunst in group texts with teammates, referring to him as Jerry Krause.
Krause, the former GM of the Chicago Bulls who was cast as the antagonist in ESPN's 10-part documentary "The Last Dance," identified as the man responsible for breaking up (albeit, also putting together) the famous Michael Jordan-led teams.
Robb Demovsky, who covers the Packers for ESPN.com, has speculated that Rodgers may be holding a grudge that Gutekunst never informed him that he'd be drafting a quarterback – Jordan Love – in the first round of last year's draft.
All the drama aside, Mayne ended his interview with Rodgers by speaking to Rodgers the way Vikings fans have for years: "F*** you, Aaron Rodgers."
