It's no coincidence Rodgers feels so at home in Wisconsin.
Tuesdays with Aaron is quarterback Aaron Rodgers' weekly sit-down with ESPN Milwaukee's Jason Wilde. The normally media-shy athlete dishes on topics such as family, pop culture, and, of course, football.
Rodgers and Wilde have a healthy working relationship and it makes for some quality radio -- segments such as "Inside the Helmet," where Rodgers breaks down one good and one bad play from the previous week's game; and "Ask Aaron," a closing segment fueled by Wilde's hand-picked questions drawn from Twitter, keep the show on-point and entertaining. The show is available via an iTunes podcast and can be streamed online via various ESPN affiliate stations, including 100.5 FM in Madison.
Since the podcast's debut in early September, these are the top ten things I've learned about Green Bay's prolific signal-caller.
- The limelight isn't for Rodgers: "I like my anonymity, I like my privacy, I like being able to be the quarterback during the week but during the off-season be able to do what I want to do and not be in the public eye."
- Unlike most star quarterbacks, Rodgers conducts his press interviews from his locker rather than a podium. "I've always felt like as a professional I wanted to be a full-time guy, be a guy who spends the majority of the off-season in Green Bay, make sure I'm a guy who leads by example, lets my actions back up the words I speak and that's been important to me, but also to make sure the guys don't think that I'm on my own schedule or I'm doing things that are outside the norm. I like being one of the guys in the locker room -- I just felt more at home by my locker, I'm a locker room guy, one of the fifty-three."
- The Chicago Bears' Brian Urlacher is Rodgers' favorite opponent to line up against: "He's my favorite player to play against, and a guy I really respect. I respect the way he plays. I think he plays hard, but he plays a clean game. He's not a dirty player or reckless or out-of-control. He really appreciates the game, respects the game and has played it well for a long time."
- Grape Crush (or sometimes Orange) is the drink of choice for Rodgers.
- In the event of a zombie apocalypse, Tom Crabtree would be the Packer-teammate Rodgers would most want by his side to fight off the undead hordes.
- Rodgers is a devout Christian, but when asked about Denver quarterback Tim Tebow's overt religious displays, his response was simple: "Always preach the gospel, but only speak it when necessary."
- Jordan Rodgers may be the fastest of the Rodgers brothers, but Aaron made it clear in the wake of an interview that Jordan did on ESPN's First Take, "He is not better than me at videogames, I take a lot of pride in that."
- Whenever asked about opposing players doing "the belt," as Atlanta's John Abraham did in last year's playoffs, Rogers always reiterates, "I think I heard somewhere that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so I'll take it."
- It's no coincidence Rodgers feels so at home in Wisconsin, during a transition period in Rodgers childhood when his family was moving from northern California to Oregon, Rodgers spent a summer living on his aunt's llama ranch in Eagle Point, Ore. The days would consist of Aaron, his younger brother Jordan, and his mother helping to clean the llama pens followed by afternoons of coyote watching, whiffle ball, lizard-hunts, hikes, and Sega Genesis R.B.I. Baseball.
- Rodgers believes professional athletes have a responsibility to "really make an impact and do something greater than yourself." He works closely with Midwest Athletes against Childhood Cancer.
