Packer Central

Murphy, Urging Silence on Rodgers Standoff, Calls QB ‘Complicated Fella’

Aaron Rodgers has skipped the first three weeks of offseason practices and almost certainly won’t attend the final week of OTAs.

Bill Huber

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Maybe Green Bay Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy should take his own advice in regards to the standoff with MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

In his “Murphy Takes Five” column at Packers.com last week, Murphy said, “We realize that the less both sides say publicly, the better.” At an event at Lambeau Field on Thursday, however, Murphy went against his own words and called Rodgers a “complicated fella.”

Murphy was discussing conversations with the late Ted Thompson, the Packers’ general manager from 2005 to 2017 who died in January.

“I’m often reminded though ... of Ted Thompson, as most of you know, just a great general manager, passed away,” Murphy said in comments relayed by Green Bay television station NBC-26. “(Thompson) often talked about Aaron, that he's – and it wasn’t just Aaron, a lot of different players – he would say, ‘He’s a complicated fella.’”

Will the statement have any large impact in the team’s stated desire of bringing back the quarterback for the 2021 season “and beyond,” as Murphy has said? Perhaps not. Personnel decisions are weighing heavier on Rodgers. But, in the history of history, has anyone ever been called “complicated” and considered it a completely positive comment? Probably not.

Rodgers skipped the first two weeks of voluntary organized team activities and last week’s minicamp, and he almost certainly will not attend the upcoming final week of OTA practices scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

On Saturday, safety Adrian Amos called Rodgers “the GOAT” for his ability to be “all over” every social-media platform with the mere mention of his name.

While the Packers’ hopes of returning to the Super Bowl hinge almost solely on Rodgers’ return to the team, the legendary quarterback has the support of his teammates.

“For me, I care about Aaron Rodgers from a friend perspective,” left tackle David Bakhtiari said on Tuesday. “Whatever he wants to do, whatever the situation that comes out, I will never hold any grudge against him. That is my friend. That is someone that I have appreciated and he has done a lot for this organization and a lot for me as an individual. Now, as a teammate I would be idiotic to say that I don’t want the MVP back. He’s the MVP of the league last year.”

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Day 2: James Jones Believes Rodgers Will Return

Day 1: No Grudges Against Rodgers

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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