Aaron Rodgers continues to rattle the league with his unorthodox views and lifestyle, this time announcing a four-day “darkness” retreat that he hopes will help him find peace with a decision as to his fate in the NFL.
Rodgers is signed to an expensive deal for the upcoming season and there are rumors the Packers are ready to make room for the younger Jordyn Love. Rodgers has expressed a willingness to renegotiate the cap hit that teams would face or he could simply retire from the league altogether. Rodgers will turn 40 years old next season.
If it were anyone else, no doubt the reaction would be different. Rodgers is at a crossroads and has an important decision to make about his future. But because he’s Aaron Rodgers, someone seen as rejecting mainstream ideas, the notion of a four-day period of isolation for meditation and reflection is now seen as a problem.
NFL writer Peter King of NBC made that observation. “There was eyebrow-raising among a few league or team people I brought this up with, the reaction being: I can see why the Packers would consider trading him,” King wrote the day after the NFL season wrapped up. “Seems like a good person, but he might be more trouble than he’s worth.”
Explaining his plan, Rodgers appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” recently and outlined what the retreat was and how it would serve him personally and professionally, as reported by Fox News.
“I think it’s going to be important to get through this week and then to take my isolation retreat and just to be able to contemplate,” the Green Bay Packers quarterback said. “All things, my future, and then make a decision I feel like is best for me moving forward and the highest interest of my happiness.
“I’ve had a number of friends who have done it and have had profound experiences. It’s something that’s been on my radar for a few years now, and I feel like it would be awesome to do regardless of where I was leaning after this season. It’s been on the calendar for months and months and months, and it’s coming up in a couple of days,” he added.
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Aside from unnerving the usual suspects with his own decisions during the pandemic, Rodgers is also no stranger to bucking mainstream ideas surrounding substances like the South American product ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is an herbal drink known for inducing hallucinogenic, psychoactive states in which believers of the product experience new states of consciousness.
Rodgers famously went to South America and consumed the herbal beverage before going on to win back-to-back MVP awards in the 2020 and 2021 NFL seasons.
Of the teams perhaps most interested in Rodgers, it would seem the New York Jets are the prime candidate. The team has a hole to fill at quarterback, and possibly most enticing to Rodgers is that the team boasts offensive coordinator Nathanial Hackett. The two were previously paired up in Green Bay between 2019 and 2021.
“Love Hack. Hack is my guy. Love him and Megan and the kids,” Rodgers said to Pat McAfee during their podcast together. “They’re really special to me. We really bonded when he was in Green Bay. He made it fun. He made the room fun. He made the weeks fun.”
Another interesting option is the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders poached Rodgers’ favorite wideout target in Davante Adams, and with the team expected to release Derek Carr, there would be another enticing opportunity to reunite with a past success.
Rodgers is guaranteed almost $60 million next season.