Aaron Rodgers: 'It's Championship Or Disappointment'

Aaron Rodgers will be leaving the Green Bay Packers next year, which makes this season an absolute ‘must-win’ for the storied franchise.

In what may be a first in the NFL, a surefire Hall of Fame quarterback has publicly committed to one ultimate, final shot at a title with the team that raised him.

Oftentimes, aging quarterbacks are gently nudged out the door or encouraged to retire as their careers wind down. Very rarely does an elder statesman, MVP-caliber player essentially make an oath with team management to give it one more legitimate shot before heading off into the sunset.

The NFL is always a ‘win-now’ league, which is why fans adore it so much, but this is different: few teams in history ever enter the season with a true ‘Super Bowl or bust’ mentality. It’s just too difficult an accomplishment for coaches to burden their players with, and as a result, we get fed the typical company lines about taking things one week at a time.

Not this season, though.

“I think we all know what’s at stake,” Rodgers said. “I talked about that a little bit the other day about perspective and how important that perspective is to focus on this season and enjoy the most out of this season, because there are a lot of unknowns.”

The team is slated to be dead last in available cap space in 2022, which means they have leveraged every ounce of capital they could muster to push for a title. No matter what happens in 2021, next season in Green Bay will look significantly different than the past decade.

Rodgers, though, says he’s totally committed to this last dance of sorts.

“We’re just going to enjoy this season. It’s Title Town. It’s championship or disappointment.”