Jordy Nelson said criticism of Aaron Rodgers 'doesn't makes sense'
Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson were nothing short of a dynamic duo when the pair played in Green Bay.
Nelson was one of Rodgers’ favorite targets throughout his nine seasons with the Packers, and was instrumental in their 2011 Super Bowl win.
Yet even though Nelson now plays for the Oakland Raiders, he’s not going to sit by and let his former quarterback take criticism from former teammates — more of which surfaced again in recent weeks.
“Everyone knows negativity sells,” Nelson said in an interview on ESPN Wisconsin this week, via the Wisconsin State Journal. “People don’t want to hear (the good). People feel better about themselves when they hear bad things about other people. And that’s why that gets more pub.
“I mean, no one wants to hear that Aaron’s not only obviously a great quarterback but a great leader and does everything right. All right, there’s your story. What fun is that? So whenever they can, they go back to the well and get the same people to say the same stuff.”
Tension grew this season between Rodgers and former coach Mike McCarthy — who was fired midway through the year. Rodgers apparently would ignore play calls from McCarthy that he wouldn’t like — an experience former tight end Mercedes Lewis detailed later.
Multiple players, including Greg Jennings and Jermichael Finley, have come out since leaving the Packers and said that Rodgers has a “trust issue” with teammates, too.
Former Packers defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, who played for the Packers from 2000-2008, joined the group in criticizing the future Hall of Famer.
“When Aaron became ‘The Man,’ he was ‘The Man,’ especially in his own eyes,” Gbaja-Biamila told Forbes last month. “Let’s just put it that way. Things just changed … But I will say that between Brett (Favre) and Aaron — and I’m just being honest here so do what you want with this — with everything that Brett accomplished, you would think he’d be a little more arrogant, but he was actually more humble.
“And I felt that Aaron was a little bit more on the arrogant side. I would say from the time (Rodgers) arrived to the time he became a starter, I felt that he changed, and it wasn’t for the better.”
Nelson, though, called Gbaja-Biamila’s comments comical.
“I don’t want to have to be on the phone and defend Aaron,” Nelson said, via the State Journal. “He’s a great leader, we all believe that and believed that and still do. He’s hard on people, he demands a lot, but he demands a lot from himself. And I think any great quarterback out there does the same thing.
“They all have different expectations. If the expectations are to go out on Sunday and have fun and then go home, then you’re not with the right quarterback. (Rodgers’) expectations are to go out there and be successful, make plays, win ballgames and win championships. That’s the level he’s going to hold you to. If you don’t want to be held to that level, then play your couple years there and move on to another team.”
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