Aaron Rodgers Talks Time And His Grand Return To Green Bay

Photo Credit: Randall Slavin

BY LAURA SCHREFFLER
PHOTOGRAPHY RANDALL SLAVIN
STYLING MONTY JACKSON
HAIR CHRISTIAN MARC
GROOMING JENNA NELSON FOR AUGUSTINUS BADER
LOCATION MALIBU BEACH INN, MALIBU

Photo Credit: Randall Slavin

Humor me: Let’s go back in time a beat. It’s just a few days before summer begins, and Aaron Rodgers is hanging out on Billionaire’s Beach in Malibu, living his best life. The 37-year-old reigning NFL MVP and Super Bowl XLV champion (and Super Bowl XLV MVP, incidentally) has the easy smile and quick laugh of a man who’s at peace with himself and his place in life. There is zero indication that, behind the easy façade, his fate with his team of 15 years, the Green Bay Packers, hangs in the balance.

In this moment, all is chill. After joking and mugging for the camera, gamely getting wet in the waves, Rodgers is now hanging out with me at the Malibu Beach Inn, talking about watches and time as a construct. His post-shoot demeanor is different from before: quieter, more serious. This is the Rodgers we see on the field: laser-focused, game face on.

The feted QB seems to have found some inner calm, put some things into perspective. Has his new role as brand ambassador for Swiss brand Zenith put the zen into him, or was it always there? I’m about to find out.

He’s talking about how the relationship with the Swiss timepiece company came to be, and when he says it was an organic fit, I believe him — he did come to the shoot toting a box full of Zenith timepieces from his personal collection, including the new 41mm Chronomaster Sport (the box fit quite neatly in the back seat of his sleek gray Tesla, I might add).

“I think,” he muses, “there were a lot of things that matched up with me in the way that [Zenith] likes to do business. There’s a humility about the company, but there’s excellence as well. Their accuracy is crazy. So there are a lot of similarities between me and my profession, but on another level, I just really like the people. I loved [CEO Julien Tornare] immediately.”

It was inevitable that Rodgers would align himself with a timepiece brand at some point; for as long as he can remember, he has been a watch guy. When he was younger and didn’t have the kind of wealth that people literally can’t even dream about (like his $134 million, four-year salaried contract with the Packers), he couldn’t always get what he wanted — like the Casio calculator watch he lusted after as a kid — but that most certainly isn’t an issue now. Yet it’s funny: our youth shapes us, and the things that shape us never really go away, no matter how far we move beyond them.

“We didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up, so I didn’t really have a watch,” Rodgers says. “So when I got drafted, I bought this silly diamond-bedazzled watch. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I had always wanted a diamond watch, and I still have it to this day. It still means a lot to me, just because of the nostalgia associated with buying it.”

And how far he had to come to get to where he is today. He broke single-season school records with 2,466 total yards as the star quarterback at Chico, California’s Pleasant Valley High School in 2001. And that was before he graduated with an A-minus average and SAT score of 1310. But despite his smarts and prowess on the gridiron, Division I programs were woefully and weirdly out of reach. So he enrolled at Butte Community College in his home state and debated quitting football entirely in favor of law school. But skill and luck were on his side, and after attracting the notice of Golden Bears head coach Jeff Tedford, he transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, after a year. When it was time to go pro during the 2005 NFL Draft, he hoped to be chosen by his team of choice, the San Francisco 49ers, who had the No. 1 pick. He was, instead, selected 24th in the first round by Green Bay, where it would take him another three years to become a starter. When Brett Favre was traded to the New York Jets in 2008, Rodgers quickly proved his worth, passing that season for 4,038 yards and 28 touchdowns. He became the only NFL player ever to post consecutive 4,000-yard passing campaigns in his first two years as a starter, recorded a 103.2 passer rating in 2009 — the second best in franchise history — and was cherry-picked to play in the Pro Bowl. The rest, as they say, is history.

Photo Credit: Randall Slavin

So yeah, basically, he deserved that diamond watch.

Given that he’s now been in the NFL for 16 years, his taste has evolved. He razzes his Green Bay teammates about wearing Gucci fanny packs (“A fanny pack you might wear over your shoulder is still a fanny pack” — preach), but gently. He and his bling were there, too. But now? The man’s got great taste and isn’t ashamed to admit it, or sass his teammates about their style. “I’ve always felt that a simple, understated yet classy watch is the perfect accessory, whether you’re rocking a suit or just a nice outfit for dinner,” he says, and then adds abruptly, “I try to keep mine on the proper time zone, too.”

When I ask if he sets his watch the minute he lands from a flight, he declares, “Oh, yeah. Every single time. It’s funny: when the pilot makes an announcement and says, ‘We just landed in San Francisco, so remember to set your watches two hours back,’ you know what I’m always thinking? How many people are actually even wearing a watch? They’re always on their phones! But then I thought, there’s something endearing about that, something classic. And so I always do it.”

I suggest that “old school” might be a better way to describe him, and he agrees. “I think in my game, I’m old school. I don’t wear a mouthpiece; I wear a single-strap, a paper-thin chin strap. The way I dress in my uniform is also very kind of classic. I wear a tiny towel. I just feel like there’s something to be said for that old-school mentality, old-school toughness, and it’s how I’ve always tried to play. With fashion, I’ve always loved the ’50s and ’60s — and to a degree the ’70s and ’80s, for different reasons — but the way people dressed back then with suits, top hats, I just love it. I don’t dress up all the time, but when I do, I try to respect the classy nature of it.”

And now, dear reader, this is where shit gets real. All his talk of the past makes me wonder about his thoughts on the passing of time, how he views it, what it means to him. I don’t know where this will go, but surprisingly, the conversation gets deep, quickly. And our passing of time becomes that much more interesting.

“Time is a construct for sure,” he acknowledges. “The passing of time is an incredible marker for me. To think back to what I was doing a year ago on a certain day, to look at the ocean and look at growth and the changes that have happened positively and experientially. Time is a commodity.”

Interesting. And unexpected.

“I once heard this guy give a toast, and he talked about how the greatest currency in the world today is actually not money; it’s time,” he says. “We all have a certain amount of currency to spend, so we should be spending it with the people that truly make our lives better, and that truly breathe life into you. And I truly believe that’s the most important currency we have, is that we get to choose who we want to spend our precious time with.”

And now, Rodgers has made that choice.

Photo Credit: Randall Slavin

The second time we speak, it’s August, less than a month after he decided to return to Green Bay. But after a months-long standoff between him and his team, something had to give.

“I just woke up one day and said, ‘I think I’m going to play ball.’ I really thought about what I wanted to do, and there are a lot of growth opportunities and good change to be part of in Green Bay, so I decided to come back.”

As he heads into the preseason and has had some time to get back into it with his teammates as well as coach Matt LaFleur, he says confidently that he made a good call. “It was the right choice,” he confirms. “I mean, it felt a little bit strange, because I was gone for the entire off-season. But the first couple of days — the first couple of hours, really — once I saw the guys and was back in the locker room, it was just like last year. It started to feel way more normal.”

His demeanor gives away that he means what he says. Post-practice on a Friday night over Zoom, he looks a little tired, a little scruffy, but utterly relaxed. Being back in his natural habitat has clearly been good for him. Sure, he made an excellent Jeopardy! stand-in host (and says he would have happily accepted a full-time gig), but that wouldn’t really have been the right choice. Or would it?

“I think choice is the greatest luxury in life,” he declares. “There’s something about the opportunity to choose your own adventure, that we can have a million different fractures off one decision, that every decision we make has consequences that can lead to different paths [that’s appealing to me]. What choice does is give me that beautiful perspective and appreciation for those experiences, because the journey is a very sweet part of life.”

But inquiring minds want to know: How did he really come to this conclusion? How did he know that this particular journey was the right one?

Rodgers is an analytical, philosophical guy. No doubt there was an impetus for his decision. “I think I was really waiting for that intuitive feeling of, Should I do this? This feels right. And there were a lot of times throughout the process where I felt like I was getting a sign to go this way, a sign to retire, maybe, a sign to go back, that I might get traded, but nothing ever felt like it stuck,” he admits. “So I thought a lot, meditated a lot on what happiness is, and what does quality of life look like to me? I journaled. I’ve done this before. I’ve written down what my ideal days would be: ideal days playing and not playing. I did this a few different times, thought about what my life would look like, and then I surrendered to the signs of the universe. I just kept on going back to that I had unfinished business in Green Bay, and I wanted to be back there with the guys, to not have the way things had gone at the end of last year be the way I go out there. The signs were pointing that way in the last week, and two nights before I was supposed to leave [for preseason], I felt a key piece slide into place, and that’s when I knew. I woke up the next morning and said, ‘I’m going back.’”

He knew it might not be easy. But he’s always been up to a challenge. You don’t get to where you are in life the way he has if you aren’t. “I knew that coming back, I needed to be able to have some big conversations with important people [on the team]. And I really look forward to those. I think it shows true growth and really mastering your feelings, being able to balance those two things, which is something that I’ve been working on as well.”

Ultimately, what he’s most grateful for is that he gave himself time to make the right choice… and didn’t say anything impulsive that could have had his fate decided for him. This ultimately brings us full circle, back to our pre-resolution conversation. “Time is such a valuable commodity. I’m so thankful that I took time for myself to [come to this conclusion]. During this time, there were many opportunities to speak the facts and my truths, my feelings. And I just didn’t; I didn’t feel like it was the right time. When I did my press conference [on July 28] on my second day of training camp, I tried to navigate it with honesty and kindness and integrity. I see the wisdom in silence, to really let my thoughts marinate and not say something, not have a reaction, not be clouded by frustrations or ego.

“Time will always be a construct, I think, because we become so tied to it with our daily routines — and I think there’s something beautiful in the routine,” he continues. “When you have something you have to do, as arduous or overwhelming as it might seem, by the time you get into your routine, there’s something special about finding that rhythm. For me, it was really thinking about who I want to spend my time with. If this is my last season in Green Bay — which I don’t know if it is or not — what type of lasting memories do I want to leave my friends and teammates with?”

Unfortunately, the one downside of another season in Wisconsin is four months away from his fiancée, actress Shailene Woodley, who’s based in L.A. The two have been engaged since earlier this year. Rodgers is pragmatic about the separation, saying, “It’s a busy work time for her, so [my decision] probably came at a good time for both of us to be able to focus on our work. I think it’s going to be a good thing. I mean, her work was shut down for an entire year, and she’s booked a number of projects. She enjoys working and her own routine, which I obviously enjoy, too.”

Part of that routine he loves so much is the leadership that comes with it, the chance to share the wisdom he has as a league veteran. And to share that he isn’t perfect. No one is. But you must push through failure. As Winston Churchill once said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Rodgers says, “The one thing I never want to come across as is somebody who’s got it all figured out. Most of the stuff that I regurgitate is stuff other people have said or talked about. The other part is my own contemplation. But what I do enjoy is passing knowledge to my teammates about time: my time as a young person making mistakes, my time as the older guy on the team with wisdom to pass down. But I don’t have all the answers. We’re all works in progress. There’s no hierarchy when it comes to knowledge for me. I love learning, I love sharing what I’ve learned. I love the back and forth with people who disagree with me or don’t quite understand what I’m saying. [For example], I look forward to my morning talks with [religious teammate punter JK Scott] about my idea of spirituality and his idea of Christianity. I couldn’t be having those types of conversations if I wasn’t here in Green Bay.”

He breaks it down even further, saying, “What I always try to show the younger quarterbacks, from a professional standpoint, is that every mistake they’re going to make, I have made. When I was younger, Brett Favre [one of the most feted quarterbacks of all time, who also played the majority of his career for the Packers] said that to me. He said it as a throwaway kind of comment, but just him saying that to me made me feel better about making mistakes. Like, it’s OK if one of the greatest players of all time has made a ton of mistakes. So I just remind the guys occasionally, ‘Hey, dude, whatever you’re going to do out there, you might think it looks terrible and stupid, but I promise you I’ve done the same thing over and over.’”

Which is actually something that Rodgers still grapples with himself. He may come across as the cool guy who has it all figured out, but he’s human, just like anyone else, flaws and all. “It’s one of my biggest struggles, the desire to be a perfectionist, and it gives me some negative self-talk sometimes,” he divulges. “As athletes, a lot of us are perfectionists; we have to be to get where we’re at. But our own worst enemy is often the little voice in our head telling us how badly we suck and that we’re not worthy, which spirals into feeling unlovable.”

So how does he combat this? I suggest drawing a heart in the mirror and telling himself, “I am worthy.” And apparently, this plan isn’t so far-fetched.

“Positive affirmation works for me. Just starting the day by looking in the mirror, going, ‘All right, man, you look good. You’re looking a little sleepy this morning, but you look good. You’re awesome. I love you so much. We’re going to have a great day.’ It’s silly, but it’s great.”

I disagree with the silly part, and he admits that was more negative self-talk, that what he’s trying to do for his team — and for himself — is create a space to talk about real things, like feelings. “I think as men sometimes, we really repress our emotions and don’t like talking about them. But I’d like to foster an environment [on the team] where it’s OK to talk about them. As a leader, I’ve got to find a way to let my buddies, my teammates, know that I see them, that I understand them and care about them, so they can be the best versions of themselves,” he says. “I think we’ve got to love ourselves first. We have to feel worthy of being loved before somebody can love us back. That’s what we all want at the end of the day: we want to be seen and we want to be heard and we want to be understood. We want to be loved. We want to be happy.”

He references a scene from the Netflix series After Life in which star Ricky Gervais is receiving some sage advice from an elderly woman. She tells him, “Happiness is amazing. It’s so amazing it doesn’t matter if it’s yours or not. A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” Rodgers says, “That stuck with me. Happiness is a feeling that you can personally embrace, and it should be shared. I just felt like there could and should be a lot of great shared experiences in Green Bay, and I was excited about that happiness.”

Will this be his last season with the team? He doesn’t know. But at least the choice will be his. And if it his last, he’ll go out knowing that he did it the right way: with integrity, with confidence, with happiness.