Ideas
What Aaron Rodgers could mean for the Jets

Shortly after his 18th season with the Green Bay Packers ended with an uncharacteristic thud, Aaron Rodgers, the Super Bowl winner and future Hall of Fame quarterback, announced that he would be spending four days and four nights isolating himself at an Oregon “darkness retreat”—a cave, basically—during which he would contemplate his future. The Packers wanted to move on, start over, and Rodgers, now 39, needed to decide if he did too, or if it was time to retire. After nearly 100 hours with zero natural light, Rodgers emerged back into society with an answer: He would play for at least one more season, and he would do it for the New York Jets.
What the hell happened to him down there?
As a long-suffering Jets fan, trust me when I say that rooting for the Jets is like rooting for the Mets, but even sadder and less rewarding. The Jets haven’t won a Super Bowl—haven’t been to the Super Bowl—since 1969, and haven’t even reached the playoffs since 2010. Since then, the franchise’s highest-profile moments have been the time ex-Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez fumbled the ball after slipping and colliding into his own lineman’s rear end (the fabled “Butt Fumble”) and the time another ex-Jets quarterback, Geno Smith, got sucker-punched in the locker room by a teammate, who broke his jaw. Not since Joe Namath in the late 1960s have the Jets had a player whom anyone would describe as “electrifying.” The joke around football is that our team name is really an acronym, that “JETS” stands for “Just End The Season,” and that the only real mystery in a Jets season is how early we start deploying that motto. We’re not just lousy. We’re dull.
We even tried this strategy before—embracing a legendary Packers QB after the Packers no longer wanted him—in 2008, with Brett Favre, who wound up throwing as many interceptions (22) as touchdowns and humiliated the team by sending lewd photos and text messages to a female NFL reporter, prompting a league investigation that, of course, this being the NFL, resulted in no suspension and a $50,000 fine. He tore his bicep 11 games into his only season in New York, and that was the end of the Jets’ Brett Favre era. In hindsight, we were a perfect match.
Surely Aaron Rodgers has heard about us. Surely he understands what he’s attaching his name to. The Jets front office surrendered significant draft capital to get him—the Jets’ first- and second-round picks in this past week’s draft, and their second-round pick in 2024, which becomes their first-round pick if Rodgers plays 65 percent of the Jets’ offensive snaps this season, or roughly 12 out of 17 games. That’s a lot for a guy who might play only one more season. And yet, in spite of the fact that he will turn 40 in December, and had the worst season of his career last year, and may have lost his passion for the game, and might only be playing because he’s owed $50 million this season and almost $60 million the next as long as he plays for someone, he will nevertheless be the most gifted football player ever to put on a Jets uniform, and far and away our best quarterback, even now, even at his advanced age. Which is why you won’t find a single halfway reasonable Jets fan who is anything less than ecstatic about Rodgers’s arrival, even though we know, with decades of evidence to back us up, that this is bound to end very badly.
I don’t care! Rodgers is bringing a measure of credibility to a franchise known for butt-fumbling it away. At a press conference announcing the decision, Rodgers said all the right things. He wore No. 12 with Green Bay, but he’ll wear No. 8 with the Jets—his number in college at Cal—because 12 is the one number you can’t wear on the Jets. “Twelve,” Rodgers acknowledged, “is Broadway Joe.” In another nod to Namath, he said the Jets’ sole Lombardi trophy, from Super Bowl III, “looks a little lonely.”
Rodgers is funny, smart, and charismatic on camera—three things the Jets haven’t had since Rex Ryan was head coach and his foot fetish got bigger tabloid headlines than his football team. Rodgers guest-hosted Jeopardy for a stretch in 2021 and very much wanted the full-time job. He dates movie stars and goes on ayahuasca journeys. Forget about wins and losses. Rodgers makes the Jets infinitely more interesting just by walking in the door.
He’s also—let’s be blunt—a super weird fit. Jets fans are not exactly a Jeopardy crowd. We do not appreciate being told to rephrase things as a question. We’ve always been the down-market team in New York relative to the Giants, the Mets to their Yankees, the Islanders to their Rangers, with a salty blue-collar fan base that takes pride in being uncouth and that Timothée Chalamet, of all people, somehow managed to nail on Saturday Night Live. The exit rotundas at the old Meadowlands Stadium were a drunken hellscape. Some of our more imaginative ogres used to drop quarters from the top of the spiral footpath down onto the grassy center, then wait for a kid to come grab it and dump beer on him from above. J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets! Don’t even get me started on Fireman Ed.
At the press conference, reporters took turns gently probing Rodgers on whether he understood what he was getting himself into, and many of his answers could be paraphrased as yes, I’m aware. He insisted that his fling with the Jets wasn’t “a one-and-done in my mind. This is a commitment.” We’ll see about that.
And yet if we remove those Gang Green–tinted glasses, the ones that give everything a vague hue of vomit, it’s not hard to see why Rodgers believes, or at least says he believes, that the Jets can win a Super Bowl. The team went 7–10 last season, but it was a frisky 7–10, lots of close games, and the roster was young, well coached, and loaded with talent, especially at wide receiver. In a rare sweep, a pair of Jets—wide receiver Garrett Wilson and cornerback Sauce Gardner—wound up winning the NFL’s offensive and defensive rookie of the year awards. The team’s winning percentage hovered around .500 all season, despite the worst quarterbacking in the league, and it played semi-meaningful games into December. “Just End The Season” didn’t get deployed until the season ended. Jets fans actually enjoyed watching this team, not because they were good, per se, but because they were promising—and when you’re a Jets fan, promising is as good as it gets.
The Rodgers trade had been gestating for weeks, and I was beginning to wonder if this would wind up as another Jetsy chapter in our franchise history—that time we actually thought we were going to get Aaron Rodgers. Instead, shortly after news of the trade broke, the Jets’ Vegas odds of winning the Super Bowl shot up to sixth-highest in the league. Suddenly, four words that have never been associated with the Jets started getting thrown around on sports-talk shows: fashionable Super Bowl pick. The Jets! Do you know how long we’ve waited just to be a fashionable Super Bowl pick? This is already our best season in years, and it hasn’t begun yet.
In 2021, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one of the few NFL franchises as bungling as ours, won the Super Bowl after Tom Brady ditched Bill Belichick and the Patriots to play for them, so there is some recent precedent here. Brady has also obliterated notions of how long a quarterback can perform at an elite level. He led the NFL in passing yardage at 43. He makes Rodgers look like a puppy. During a game last season against the Bills, on October 30—outdoors, in Buffalo—I watched with astonishment as Rodgers flicked a pass 70 yards downfield, right on target, like it was nothing, before one of his lousy receivers dropped it. His arm, at least, is as golden as ever.
Rodgers isn’t Brady, but he’s awfully close, and he’s always been the more physically gifted of the two. Few quarterbacks have ever played at a higher level. So if Brady can win a ring with the Bucs, why can’t A-Rodg do it with the Jets?
Even if Rodgers is washed up, relative to peak Rodgers, every Jets fan in creation would still choose him over what we rolled out last season: a three-man rotation consisting of a genuinely washed-up former Super Bowl winner (Joe Flacco), an undrafted career backup who pulled off a few plucky wins (Mike White), and the worst starting quarterback in the NFL last season by nearly every statistical metric, Zach Wilson. Going from Zach Wilson to Aaron Rodgers is like going from a potato to Aaron Rodgers. We just need a seasoned pilot. Merely good would be a quantum leap.
Rodgers is a student of history (Jeopardy), so he’s perhaps already calculated that even if things do go off the rails with the Jets, the world will forget that this peculiar union ever happened, just like people have probably already forgotten that Favre once played for the Jets, or that Michael Jordan played a few years for the Washington Wizards. And those who do remember will blame us, not him. We have no idea how this will go. We know exactly how this will go. Just start the season.
*Source Images: David Eulitt / Getty; Elsa / Getty; Grant Halverson / Getty; Stacy Revere / Getty
FAQs
How do you win a football match with a weak team? ›
- Keep a positive attitude. Sometimes the game is lost even before it is played. ...
- Solidarity – no surrender! If the opposition is better than you then it's going to be an onslaught. ...
- Mark man for man. ...
- Keep talking. ...
- Don't forget about attacking. ...
- Don't lose your discipline. ...
- Rolling it out.
1-Barcelona 2008-2009
Playing the most beautiful football ever seen, this team marvelled the world (even those who don't like Barcelona enjoyed this team's beautiful football).
“We get pride in cheering for bad teams, because we feel like it reflects well on us that we're not a front runner, we're loyal,” Leitch said. It's like honor among thieves. Honor among fans of bad teams is a real thing. It brings fan bases together to unite in the misery of an endless series of losses.
Is the most important of the least important things in life football? ›This led to his famous quote directed at those who questioned his qualifications: "I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first." Another famous Sacchi quote is that "football is the most important of the least important things in life."
What do you say to a team after a bad loss? ›- Teach life lessons. ...
- Tell them you are proud of them. ...
- Focus on the good qualities of the players. ...
- Tell them that you love them. ...
- Focus on good things that happened during the season. ...
- Be there for them. ...
- Put things in perspective.
- 1) Reflect. Have you had a few team members tell you things that they are unhappy about recently? ...
- 2) “One To Ones”: Get into a habit of informal “one to one” meetings with team members. ...
- 3) Share. ...
- 4) Develop a road-map. ...
- 5) Make it visual.
Alex Morgan
Alex tops our list of the sexiest woman football players. She plays at San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League and the United States women's national soccer team.
- San Francisco 49ers. Fun Index: 62.5. ...
- Dallas Cowboys. Fun Index: 70.25. ...
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Fun Index: 75. ...
- Buffalo Bills. Fun Index: 75. ...
- Cincinnati Bengals. Fun Index: 93.75. ...
- Arizona Cardinals. Fun Index: 101.25. ...
- Los Angeles Rams. Fun Index: 112. ...
- Kansas City Chiefs. Fun Index: 112.25. Tyreek Hill is gone, but the thrill remains.
1. Alex Morgan - San Diego Wave. Alex Morgan's name pops up when talking about beauty and talent. She is regarded by many as the most beautiful female footballer.
What makes a team toxic? ›You may be in a toxic team – here are the warning signs:
Team banter makes people on the team feel uncomfortable, embarrassed or left out. People make excuses for each other like “don't mind her, she's always like that”, or “ignore him, he doesn't mean it” People are indiscreet, unprofessional or spread gossip.
Why do people support small teams? ›
Simply put, the larger the group, the less individual attention that can be passed out. On the other hand, smaller teams, by providing more perceived support, are further able to “buffer stressful experiences and promote performance.”
Why are some teams successful while others are not? ›The main reason teams fail is due to a lack of trust, and trust can be broken down into two components: character and competence. In other words, is it safe to trust the person to A) be competent in his or her job, and B) to have positive intent and good will in doing so?
What is one important rule in football? ›The Offside Rule in Football
To be onside they must be placed behind the last defender when the ball is played to them. If the player is in front of that last defender then he is deemed to be offside and free kick to the defending team will be called. A player cannot be caught offside in their own half.
Touch. The ability to control a football,or 'touch', is the most important skill for a striker to possess. Control of the football in a tight situation is often the difference between getting an opportunity to score a goal or not even having the chance. There are lots of touch points that must be practiced.
What is the most important basic skill in playing football? ›Passing accuracy is one of the most fundamental skills in a football game. The feet should always have the power and accuracy to pass the ball either to your teammates or to the strikers for a goal. Passing skill is the one ultimate skill and football is devoid of an accurate and precise pass.
How do you motivate a losing football team? ›Think ahead to the next game
The best way to motivate the team after a heart-wrenching loss is allow some time to grieve, then encourage the players to move on to the next game. Talk with coaches and players about ways to address aspects of the game that went right and ones that went wrong.
Tough Sports Losses and Sports Fan Depression
Because your personal and social identity is wrapped up in the team, you can feel as if you lost part of yourself when the team loses. You're dependent on an outcome that's entirely out of your control, which can make you feel helpless.
- What the Experts Say. It's often harder to lead a team past a failure than it is to help one person. ...
- First, take control of your own emotions. ...
- Give them space. ...
- Be clear about what went wrong. ...
- But don't point fingers. ...
- Shift the mood. ...
- Tell a story. ...
- Encourage collaboration.
- Have a conversation with the naysayer. More often than not, people aren't even aware that they're being negative. ...
- Reframe negativity in a constructive manner. ...
- Model positive behavior. ...
- Make positivity a company value. ...
- Set standards for constructive disagreement.
- Listen. You don't need to hear every single moan and whine, but all of these cynical responses are often the effect of a deeper cause. ...
- Offer Choice. ...
- Park the Clichés. ...
- 'Fess Up. ...
- Don't Mistake Cynicism for Pragmatism. ...
- Work for Your Team.
Who is the prettiest male football player? ›
- David Beckham.
- Olivier Giroud.
- Cristiano Ronaldo.
- Neymar Junior.
- Paulo Dybala.
- Ricardo Kaka.
- Lionel Messi.
- Antoine Griezmann.
According to the golden ratio of facial beauty, she is the most beautiful girl in the world. According to a study conducted by Dr.Julian DeSilva, supermodel Bella Hadid has the most perfect face with beauty test score of 94.35%, followed by singer Beyonce and actress Amber Heard.
Which NFL team has the most black fans? ›The Los Angeles Kings have the largest percentage of nonwhite fans by a significant margin, followed by the Florida Panthers, Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals.
What is the least favorite football team? ›Houston - The Houston Texans are the least popular team in the NFL, according to a recent study.
Which NFL team has the smallest stadium? ›...
Largest & Smallest NFL Stadiums.
Follow us as we dive into the story of this real life superhero and her journey to become the first ever female NFL player. Originally born in Chandler Arizona , Becca Longo had always been athletic by nature from birth, mastering the skills of skis before the age of four and soccer at the age of nine.
Has there ever been a girl on a football team? ›Shelby Osborne: Became the first female to play a non-kicking position at a four-year college after signing in summer 2014 to play cornerback at Campbellsville University, an NAIA school.
Who is the top woman in the NFL? ›The Browns announced several front office moves on Thursday including the hiring of Catherine Raiche as assistant general manager and vice president of football operations, making her the highest ranking female executive in the NFL.
How do you lead when your team hates you? ›- Openly address issues with the person or team. ...
- Start praising employees for their great work more frequently. ...
- Be empathetic. ...
- Be open and honest. ...
- Have a sense of humor. ...
- Welcome their input. ...
- Treat everyone kindly, but equally. ...
- Be consistent.
A happy team has ongoing feedback and clear communication.
Allocate ongoing time for feedback, making sure communication is honest, truthful and straightforward. Teamwork thrives in an environment where communication is valued.
What is a small but strong team? ›
Small but mighty teams are made up of honest and dependable people who do the right thing because it's what you're supposed to do. They don't need constant supervision or excessive hand-holding to be upstanding. Mighty teams do what needs to be done and do what is right, whether or not anyone is watching.
Why is a bigger team better? ›The larger a team is, the more people each team member communicates with to stay updated and collaborate on the project.
How do you fix a dysfunctional team? ›- Listen to what your team members have to say.
- Identify what's causing the problems.
- Problem solve as a team.
- Build trust with team-building activities.
- Create an action plan to resolve the problems.
- Host follow-up meetings to see what has changed.
- Ask for feedback regularly to identify future problems.
Poor Communication
Poor communication is the main factor behind many team failures. There can be many reasons why a team may not have good communication. Here are some reasons: - Lack of Trust: Poor communication can also stem from a lack of trust.
In Microsoft Teams, your presence status is shown incorrectly. For example, your presence status changes to Away if your desktop is inactive for more than 5 minutes.
What is the 3 0 rule in football? ›A forfeited match is handled differently in various competitions; FIFA Disciplinary Code punishes the team sanctioned with a forfeit with a 3–0 loss (however, the result on the pitch is upheld if the goal difference at the end of the match was three or greater so as to ensure the non-forfeiting team is not unfairly ...
What is the unfair rule in football? ›In the event of an ongoing threat, such as a riot in the stands, the officials can also suspend the game until the situation is resolved. The extraordinarily unfair act rule is for acts so extraordinary that the NFL Commissioner can levy fines, require the offending team to surrender draft picks, and suspend players.
What is rule 34 football team? ›Rule 34 was a long-standing rule which established that football club directors were the custodians of their clubs; in place to look after and support clubs but prohibited from being paid.
What makes someone naturally good at football? ›Speed, strength, acceleration, agility and sheer power are all very important in the modern game, but they will develop naturally during the early years of a player's development. Much more important at a young age is the development of technical skills.
What makes a good football team? ›Clearly great teams have great leaders and great individuals. They all work together to raise the overall performance of the team. When you create a team, or when you join one, have an open and honest discussion about the goals for the team and each team member. Establish standards by which the team will work and act.
What is the personality of a football player? ›
AGGRESSIVENESS: Believes one must be aggressive to win; will not allow others to push them around in competition. DETERMINATION: Willingness to practice long and hard; often works out willingly by themselves; persevering, patient, and unrelenting in work habits. Works on skills until exhausted.
What is the hardest skill in football? ›One of the hardest skills in football to pull off, the Elastico was a favourite of Ronaldinho. It involves rolling your foot over the ball in such a way that when you bring it down on the other side, you are able to knock the ball past an opponent in one swift movement.
Who is the king of football skills? ›Who is the king of football now 2023? Lionel Messi is the holder of the title 'King of football.' He is best known for his dribbling skills, tricks on the field, impossible goals, and never-ending determination to win the game.
How do you turn a losing team into a winning team? ›- Set the tone. ...
- Focus forward, glance back. ...
- Change what you can control. ...
- Keep concepts simple. ...
- Set realistic goals. ...
- Work to improve your talent. ...
- Prepare for setbacks. ...
- Mentor coaches, lead captains.
- Training and development.
- Set (and measure) goals.
- Incentivise performance.
- Facilitate excellent internal communication.
- Make meetings productive.
- Effective project management.
- Shared purpose, vision and culture.
- Give recognition.
In football, “strong side” is a term used to describe a side of the field relating to the alignment of the offense. When the offense has a tight end in their formation, the side of the offensive line that the tight end lines up on is called the strong side, while the other side of the field is called the weak side.
How do you turn a negative team into a positive team? ›- Have a conversation with the naysayer. More often than not, people aren't even aware that they're being negative. ...
- Reframe negativity in a constructive manner. ...
- Model positive behavior. ...
- Make positivity a company value. ...
- Set standards for constructive disagreement.
- Focus on strong leadership. Poor leadership will usually result in poor teams. ...
- Set common goals. Winning teams work together towards a shared goal. ...
- Explain the rules. ...
- Develop an action plan. ...
- Support risk-taking. ...
- Involve and include all the people on your team.
Appreciation: Perhaps the most important step of creating a successful team is taking the time to appreciate wins and reward effort. A strong team will work hard and when they tackle their goals, those wins need to be celebrated. And don't just focus on individual achievements but also on team collaboration.
What to do when a team is not performing? ›- Realize you're not in this alone. ...
- Accept the feedback with a caveat. ...
- Ask for more clarity and support from your manager. ...
- Take a fresh look at your leadership style. ...
- Co-create a team goal. ...
- Think about your future.
Which bet is easiest to win in football? ›
- BTTS: BTTS bet demands the punters to predict if both teams will score a goal or not. ...
- Over/Under: This bet can work in your favor when you have chosen a smaller figure as reference. ...
- Double chance bet: In this bet, you win money when any two from the three outcomes are obtained.
- Research Before Betting. Rule number one of football betting is that the punter must gather as much information as possible before placing a bet. ...
- Remain Analytical. ...
- Profit is Profit no Matter How Small. ...
- Keep a Betting Record. ...
- Remember, You Will Not Win Every Time.
- HAVE A GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF THE GAME. ...
- PATIENCE. ...
- DON'T BET WITH YOUR HEART. ...
- QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. ...
- CHANGE BOOKMAKERS. ...
- RESEARCH ON MATCH STATISTICS. ...
- HOME GROUND ADVANTAGE. ...
- RESEARCH ON TEAM CALENDAR.
The weakside inside linebacker is typically called the "Will," while the strong side or middle inside linebacker is called the "Mike". "Sam" is a common designation for strong outside linebacker, while the other position is usually called "Jack" and is often a hybrid DE/LB.
Where does the weak side linebacker play? ›As a general rule, the SLB will line up across from the tight end if each side has the same number of personnel. Just as the strong-side linebacker goes on the side with the most players, the weak-side linebacker (WLB) goes on the side with the fewest.
Does strength matter in football? ›The stronger the player is, the quicker they can move their muscles and are more ready to get better quality movements. Strength is required in all the situations, movements and actions a player will find themselves in during a game. There is also a different kind of strength in football [where the ball is contested]…