The Aaron Rodgers Experience has not been particularly pleasant for New York Jets fans. Obviously the veteran quarterback suffered incredibly bad luck in going down with a season-ending injury only four plays into the 2023 season. But the first five games of 2024 haven't been all that great either as Gang Green sits at 2-3 headed into a must-win game against the Buffalo Bills on Monday night, as evidenced by the surprising dismissal of head coach Robert Saleh earlier this week—and the palace intrigue only getting more intriguing.
Part of the reason so many pundits were high on the idea of Rodgers succeeding in New York was because we've seen aging quarterback greats enjoy late-career Super Bowl success relatively recently with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning climbing to the top of the mountain. There were no shortage of doubters, though, who could look at the disparate personalities at play and conclude that Rodgers is not exactly like the others, on top of the fact that the one "knock" on his incredible career is that he hasn't done enough big-time winning. Which is a point of view more and more people are coming around to as the world turns at MetLife and the Jets org chart.
Ryan Clark spoke to that idea on this morning's episode of Get Up, saying "the Aaron Rodgers that we mention in the names of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning was a catfish."
"The Aaron Rodgers that we mention in the names of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning was a catfish."
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) October 11, 2024
—@Realrclark25 says Aaron Rodgers hasn't lived up to expectations with the New York Jets 😳 pic.twitter.com/Q7z0O7mu53
Catfish was a great movie with a shocking ending. Catfish: The TV Show is actually quite predictable and more often than not a viewer emerges from the hour wondering how the deceived party could possibly be so naive as to think something could be too good to be true. There will plenty of time to reflect and reconsider if Rodgers fails to turn things around with the Jets and to be fair the story is still being written, yet at this time this saga feels more like the television show.
Clark's most pointed critique focused on the quarterback's makeup.
"Aaron Rodgers has every physical tool to have been the greatest quarterback to have played this game. There is something that he is missing in his intangible DNA that makes him devoid of great leadership, makes him devoid of being able to elevate locker rooms and I think that's what we're seeing in New York."
It sounds strong and yet that's kind of what those who thought Rodgers wouldn't win meaningfully with the Jets have been saying for 17-plus months about the situation.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ryan Clark: Aaron Rodgers 'Devoid' of Great Leadership, Ability to Elevate Locker Room.
