What's up with Aaron?

[El Duderino]

Rodgers didn't play well at all. Two interceptions deep in Seattle territory - the first one anticipating an offside jump without actually seeing whether a flag was thrown, and the second a pass to no one. And then general futility in scoring in the RZ and putting the game away. And that too with Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman virtually dead.

You forgot about the completely wide open pass to Cobb which Rodgers missed, that easily would have been a TD and would have pretty much iced the game away. I forget if it was in the first or second half when it happened, but i do remember yelling at the TV at the time, damn Aaron, how the hell did you blow that throw because there was nobody covering Cobb.

My memory is faulty on this, but didn't he also miss a throw on 3rd down late in the 4th quarter which basically would have allowed us to run out most of the clock and instead we had to punt?

For as great as Aaron was in the regular season over his dominant stretch, his playoff performances have been much more up and down.

[th87]

Yeah just absurd decisions all around. A third down deep pass to James Starks who wasn't open. I wonder if I'll ever bring myself to watch that again.

Organizationally, this was the football version of the Galaxy Note 7 level blunder. Lots of adversity bring people together, but then there are others that are so absurd they break people apart. Once teams adjust to this dink and dunk business (or Montgomery gets injured [my way of emotionally preparing]), the party's over.

[raysbookclub]

Once teams adjust to this dink and dunk business (or Montgomery gets injured [my way of emotionally preparing]), the party's over.

Some teams run a ton of their offense dinking and dunking, so it's not like a really funky gimmick. New England has done it for years--seems like 75% of their offense is Gronkowski down the seam or Edelman/Welker/whoever on those 5 yard routes. Atlanta too this year, using their RBs as 4th or 5th receivers.

Anyway, hopefully Starks and Davis will be able to pick up the run game too as the weeks go on. And Montgomery keeps at it.

[thomchatt3rton]

I had been trying to think of an example of another athlete who was at the top of his or her sport, and then just "lost it" a la what Rodgers is doing, and not because of an injury. I could not think of one for a long time...

....but would Tiger be a good example? I don't follow golf at all- was he falling off before his whole divorce/public humiliation or is that what turned him from "greatest ever" to "afterthought"?

Obviously, I don't think the Tiger example is perfectly analogous (personally I believe a big percent of Rodgers' problems are due to the structure of the team) but it's the best example I could come up with of a top guy just f*cking losing it.

[slappyg]

Practice? What you talkin bout Practice?

[dietac]

How about Favre in '05 with his 29 picks. '06 wasn't very good either.

[KidA24]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2676645-can-aaron-rodgers-be-the-type-of-leader-the-packers-need#

[KidA24]

I had been trying to think of an example of another athlete who was at the top of his or her sport, and then just "lost it" a la what Rodgers is doing, and not because of an injury. I could not think of one for a long time...

....but would Tiger be a good example? I don't follow golf at all- was he falling off before his whole divorce/public humiliation or is that what turned him from "greatest ever" to "afterthought"?

Obviously, I don't think the Tiger example is perfectly analogous (personally I believe a big percent of Rodgers' problems are due to the structure of the team) but it's the best example I could come up with of a top guy just f*cking losing it.

There's plenty of examples.

Dale Murphy, for one. He was one of the best players in MLB from age 24-31, and was just done at 32.

[thomchatt3rton]

I had been trying to think of an example of another athlete who was at the top of his or her sport, and then just "lost it" a la what Rodgers is doing, and not because of an injury. I could not think of one for a long time...

....but would Tiger be a good example? I don't follow golf at all- was he falling off before his whole divorce/public humiliation or is that what turned him from "greatest ever" to "afterthought"?

Obviously, I don't think the Tiger example is perfectly analogous (personally I believe a big percent of Rodgers' problems are due to the structure of the team) but it's the best example I could come up with of a top guy just f*cking losing it.

There's plenty of examples.

Dale Murphy, for one. He was one of the best players in MLB from age 24-31, and was just done at 32.

I'm not a baseball guy at all so I'll take your word for it. Seems like there's a higher rate of guys losing it in MLB than in any other sport though- pitchers, especially. But again, I'm not a baseball guy.

With Rodgers I still think it's dysfunction with the coach/problems with the personnel- there are too many times when he looks like his old self to think he's completely lost it.

[humanrefutation]

I had been trying to think of an example of another athlete who was at the top of his or her sport, and then just "lost it" a la what Rodgers is doing, and not because of an injury. I could not think of one for a long time...

....but would Tiger be a good example? I don't follow golf at all- was he falling off before his whole divorce/public humiliation or is that what turned him from "greatest ever" to "afterthought"?

Obviously, I don't think the Tiger example is perfectly analogous (personally I believe a big percent of Rodgers' problems are due to the structure of the team) but it's the best example I could come up with of a top guy just f*cking losing it.

Tiger didn't just lose it after the divorce, though. He had several top finishes in majors and won a few tournaments in the immediate aftermath. But, he also suffered some significant physical injuries which have plagued him since then.

[humanrefutation]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2676645-can-aaron-rodgers-be-the-type-of-leader-the-packers-need#

Whenever "What's Wrong with Aaron Rodgers?!" hysteria sweeps the nation and pundits hyperanalyze footwork, reads and the power struggle between Rodgers and McCarthy, those closest to the quarterback consider a factor that has nothing to do with football.

He doesn't have a relationship with his parents or brothers.

Of course, this storyline reached its fever pitch during The Bachelorette. Jordan Rodgers, a contestant on the show and eventually the winner, took JoJo Fletcher home to Chico, taking the world behind the curtain to look at this strained relationship. There are people once close to Rodgers who believe the strain affects his play.

One source, who was close to Rodgers for years but is among the many who have since been cut off by Rodgers entirely, said the quarterback has not spoken to his family since December 2014. Don't feel too bad, J-Mike. Immediate family members don't even have his cellphone number. When Mom and Dad sent Christmas presents to the quarterback and his girlfriend that year, the source said, those gifts were mailed back in February. He was set to be the groomsman in the wedding of one of his closest friends, the source said, and texted the day before he couldn't attend.

He didn't attend his grandfather's funeral—the same grandfather he once called before every game.

He fired a business manager he's known since high school.

The family was told they were no longer welcome in Green Bay. If Dad wants to attend a game now, he buys tickets on StubHub or goes through another player's family.

There certainly could be a side to this story the world does not know. Rodgers hasn't commented on this public schism. But this source once close to the quarterback, watching from afar, is not shy.

"There's no explanation for him playing any worse," said the source, who wished to speak under the condition of anonymity. "People are trying to figure it out. He's a f--king head case. He knows he's doing the wrong thing, and he's so arrogant and prideful that he thinks he can separate his personal life from his professional life, even though all of us know that's impossible. You can't do that. You can do that in little spurts, like when Brett Favre went out and played amazingly when he loses his Dad. But when you're talking about real situations that aren't all of a sudden circumstantial and you f--k over good people, people you're supposed to love, it's a s--tty thing to do and you're going to get humbled.

"You can't live like that, man. The people who live like that end up getting f--ked over. That's kind of what's happening here, but he's so prideful and will never admit he's wrong. Ever."

Teammates shun the theory that any family issues are affecting Rodgers. He may no longer have that family, but he has this family. Guion, for one, speaks to Rodgers every day and sees a leader making a concerted effort to know everyone.

"He's always happy. Always conversational," Guion said. "He's always in a good mood. I've never really seen him in a bad mood. Even after a loss, he comes in and works harder. He's a lot stronger and tougher than people probably think or know he is.

[thomchatt3rton]

I had been trying to think of an example of another athlete who was at the top of his or her sport, and then just "lost it" a la what Rodgers is doing, and not because of an injury. I could not think of one for a long time...

....but would Tiger be a good example? I don't follow golf at all- was he falling off before his whole divorce/public humiliation or is that what turned him from "greatest ever" to "afterthought"?

Obviously, I don't think the Tiger example is perfectly analogous (personally I believe a big percent of Rodgers' problems are due to the structure of the team) but it's the best example I could come up with of a top guy just f*cking losing it.

Tiger didn't just lose it after the divorce, though. He had several top finishes in majors and won a few tournaments in the immediate aftermath. But, he also suffered some significant physical injuries which have plagued him since then.

Gotcha. I'm not a golf guy either.

Normally, with a situation like Aaron's, you start to think about off-the-field stuff- especially drugs or alcohol. When someone's consistently great and then just falls off a cliff, substance abuse is always a pretty good guess. I'm not saying that's what's going on with Aaron, but man.

[humanrefutation]

I surmised at the beginning of the season that it was family issues. I'm convinced more now than ever that his family relationship has impacted his mental state in a significant way.

Not necessarily because he's too "prideful to admit that he's wrong," as the source said in that article above, because I don't know what precipitated the split and he might be in the right (I'm guessing that it's about his family disapproving of Olivia, but who knows?)

But because it's always hard when you know your family doesn't have your back, especially when he was as close to them as he was in the past. He used to talk about them all the time, especially on his show with Wilde. But that relationship was broken in December 2014, and with event after event - missing your grandfather's funeral, missing a wedding, having your brother trash you on national tv, etc etc- that gap has gotten bigger and bigger to the point that it feels harder and harder to bridge that divide. And that'll keep getting worse until someone forces the issue and puts them in a room and makes them reconcile.

[LUKE23]

Why has he cut off his family if that's true is the real story. But yes, I can definitely buy that happening. Whatever is impacting him, it's mental, not physical, and that's obvious.

[MickeyDavis]

That's some weird ****. Mailing back Xmas gifts from your parents? Not attending your grandfather's funeral? Texting a good friend the day before his wedding to tell him he wouldn't be standing up in it? If it was just one of those things you could think there may be a plausible explanation. I don't really care what a player does away from the game. None of my business. But, as has been said in this thread, most of Rodgers in game mistakes appear to be mental not physical. He seems pretty messed up.

[skones]

Well December 2014 is right in line with what we've heard about that Munn interview about their sex life being a thing.

[humanrefutation]

The tabloids have suggested it's all about Munn - family doesn't like her, he loves her, and thus you have the split.

I can get that, honestly. You can't choose your family, but you can choose who you date/marry. His family was apparently very religious. Olivia is not. His family was more conservative. She is most assuredly not. I could see that being an issue for them and leading to uncomfortable interactions that would lead to a breaking point. If his feelings for her were that strong, I could very well see how that would cause a rift.

The timing is notable. The Dunne article says it happened in December 2014 (holiday argument, maybe?). Then, he goes on to win the MVP, and in his acceptance speech, he made a point of professing his love for Olivia in a way he'd never done publicly beforehand. That could have been a subtle "**** you" to his family.

[BUCKnation]

I just want my old quarterback back

[WRau1]

We aren't winning, that's whats up with A-a-ron.

[El Duderino]

The tabloids have suggested it's all about Munn - family doesn't like her, he loves her, and thus you have the split.

I can get that, honestly. You can't choose your family, but you can choose who you date/marry. His family was apparently very religious. Olivia is not. His family was more conservative. She is most assuredly not. I could see that being an issue for them and leading to uncomfortable interactions that would lead to a breaking point. If his feelings for her were that strong, I could very well see how that would cause a rift.

The timing is notable. The Dunne article says it happened in December 2014 (holiday argument, maybe?). Then, he goes on to win the MVP, and in his acceptance speech, he made a point of professing his love for Olivia in a way he'd never done publicly beforehand. That could have been a subtle "**** you" to his family.

I have no clue what exactly caused this family split, but years ago i dated a girl who had a very religious family and i'm not religious at all. It was very uncomfortable being around her family given i knew they wished their daughter was dating someone else and it also caused stress for her. Finally i just broke it off because i didn't want to deal with that crap anymore since she was living with them while in college, but would spend some nights at my place which they clearly didn't approve of. Every time i came to pick her up or drop her off, it was quite awkward.

Aaron not showing up for a grandfather's funeral though that he was very close to is pretty extreme, even if he had fallen out with his parents.