Calais Campbell's Long History with Aaron Rodgers

The Miami Dolphins defensive lineman has had some success against the Jets quarterback in his career

Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell (93) pursues Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) during the first half at University of Phoenix Stadium in a 2015 game. / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins meeting against the New York Jets on Sunday will feature the oldest defensive lineman in the NFL going against the oldest player in the league, so there's naturally some history between Calais Campbell and Aaron Rodgers.

But it goes even beyond their matchups on the field, where Campbell holds a 3-2 advantage with an especially important 2-0 edge in playoff game.

The two obviously go way back, even before either entered the NFL, Rodgers in 2005 and Campbell three years later.

"Quite a few histories with Aaron Rodgers," Campbell explained this week. "We used to train together for a while, so I know him personally. He also went to junior college with my brother (Raj), so I remember when my brother was in college he was like, ‘Man, we got this guy. He’s an NFL player,’ and I’m like, ‘At Butte Junior College? Come on, man. What?’ Turned out to be Aaron Rodgers, so he probably could be a scout because he knew what he was looking at.

"Then competing against him on the field, I’ve probably played against him, I don’t know how many times, it’s a big handful. I feel like it’s been kind of back and forth, of course, but there’s definitely a couple games that stand out. I did get to him three times one game, so that was kind of nice.”

CALAIS CAMPBELL AGAINST AARON RODGERS

Rodgers took over as Packers starting quarterback in 2008, three years after arriving as a first-round pick and when Campbell was a rookie second-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals.

While Campbell is now on his fifth NFL team — Jacksonville, Baltimore and Atlanta came between his start in Arizona and his joining the Dolphins this offseason — all five of the games took place when he was a member of the Cardinals.

Campbell's three victories against Rodgers include playoff wins in the 2009 and 2015 seasons, the second after Arizona had defeated Green Bay in the regular season. Both playoff games went to overtime, the second after Rodgers threw a Hail Mary for a touchdown on the last play of regulation.

Campbell's best individual performance against Rodgers came in that 2015 regular season game when he had 2.5 sacks in Arizona's 38-8 victory at University of Phoenix Stadium in late December.

“Yeah, it would be nice to get to him three times again; I don’t know if that’s happening, though," Campbell said this week. "I don’t know if I get enough opportunities these days anymore. It would be nice to have an old vintage matchup with an old-time great. One of the first old-timers still hanging around, it’s a little easier for a quarterback than it is for a D-lineman, but he is still impressive. He can still make every throw, he’s scrambling around back there, making guys miss, throwing the ball down the field. At moments you see brilliance like it’s still the same guy that it was 10 years ago when we were competing.”

When it comes to moments of brilliance, Campbell has delivered more of those for the Dolphins in 2024 than Rodgers has for the Jets during their massively disappointing season.

But the respect for Rodgers' career obviously remains.

“I feel like every game is important for pass rush, but when you have a quarterback that can make every throw and has done it a thousand times before, you’ve got to try to make him uncomfortable," Campbell said. "So you’ve got to get in his face, you’ve got to get him off the spot, you have to get him just kind in positions he doesn’t want to be in. Now he also makes plays in uncomfortable situations too, so he’s kind of a guy that you have to always worry about. But you give yourself the best chance to win by getting him off his spot, getting to him, get him down, hitting him – that’s always the formula in my mind. I like to have influence and know that we’re the reason why we’re winning ballgames and so we have to get to him early and get to him often.”