Aaron Rodgers’ gratitude for Mike McCarthy grows over time: ‘I’ll always be tied with him’
a home loss to a terrible Arizona Cardinals team that would finish 3-13, selecting quarterback Kyler Murray first overall in the following spring’s draft.
It was the Packers’ third straight defeat. The wheels had officially fallen off, not just for their 2018 season, but coach Mike McCarthy’s 13-year tenure as head coach. At home, Rodgers had several friends waiting to celebrate his 35th birthday.
Standing in the crowd a couple of hours after the game, the quarterback learned McCarthy was fired.
“That was a really strange night for sure,” Rodgers said. “When something like that happens, and it’s so jarring, there’s a state of shock that happens that I think kind of stuck with me for a while.”
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McCarthy will return to Lambeau Field for the first time since that game Sunday when the Packers host his new team, the ascending Dallas Cowboys. So much has happened since that strange night almost four years ago. Rodgers, before this season, resurrected his career with a pair of MVP awards. McCarthy took a year off coaching, stumbled in his first season in Dallas, found himself potentially on the hot seat entering this season, but has positioned the Cowboys as an NFC contender.
he hopes to receive “a very positive reception” from Packers fans before Sunday’s game. Rodgers made clear his former coach should get nothing less.Aaron Rodgers needs a lesson in how to be a leader for his Packers teammates
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That continued this week. Rodgers, definitively, is not having an MVP season. The Packers offense has sunk to one of the worst in the NFL, and Rodgers’ inability to connect with his receivers is at the forefront.
“I think Aaron has been playing at an MVP level since, probably, since ’09,” McCarthy said. “That’s the way I view it. I had a chance to play a lot this week. His footwork, his ball mechanics, his ball placement is off the charts. I still see him playing at a high level. Obviously, he’s paying with a number of different players, but I’ve been very, very impressed.”
McCarthy’s firing was a ‘shock’ to Rodgers
If there was mending, the process started not long after McCarthy’s firing. Rodgers remembers driving to Lambeau Field around 7:30 a.m. the next day. At the intersection of Lombardi Avenue and Ridge Road, he looked over and saw McCarthy sitting in his truck.
Relax, Packers fans. Some of us have lived through much worse than this.
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Rodgers and McCarthy said they’ve continued their communication since the coach’s career resumed in Dallas. In the past year, Rodgers said, their exchanges have increased. They’ll finally get a chance to see each other in person Sunday, sharing a few words and perhaps a hug before kickoff at Lambeau Field.
Then their two teams will go their separate ways, the Cowboys likely to the playoffs this season, the Packers into an uncertain future. No matter where their paths go, Rodgers knows their legacies always will be linked.
“I’ll always be tied with him,” Rodgers said, “because of the connection that we had and the years we spent together. Obviously my longest-tenured coach, longest-tenured play caller. Thankful for those years, and thankful maybe a little bit more as the years go by.”