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Aaron Rodgers Documentary Reveals Architect Behind Jordan Love Draft

Stephen Douglas

Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers with the Packers.
Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers with the Packers. / Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The Green Bay Packers drafted Jordan Love with pick No. 26 in the 2020 NFL draft. At the time Aaron Rodgers was just 36 years old and about to run on two consecutive MVP campaigns. There's a reason the Packers trading up to take a quarterback in the first round was a shocker to just about everyone, including Rodgers.

As we all know now, the Packers made the right decision as they did when they drafted Rodgers when Brett Favre was still in his mid-30's.

In the recently released Aaron Rodgers Netflix documentary, Packers coach Matt LaFleur revealed Ted Thompson was the one who nudged the team in the right direction both times.

"I don't think a lot of people, at least in our camp, thought that Jordan would have been there when we were picking," said LaFleur. "And the opportunity presented itself. And it was an opportunity that Ted Thompson thought was too good to pass up."

What's surprising about this is that Thompson was no longer officially with the organization at the time. He had taken over as general manager in 2005 and drafted Rodgers, but moved into an advisory role in 2018. In May 2019 Thompson stepped away from the team because of health issues.

Thompson passed away in early 2021 before Love had ever played a snap for the team. Clearly the team valued his input until the very end.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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