He wasn’t hired to be Yoda. The Jets did not trade for Aaron Rodgers so he could serve as a cross between Albus Dumbledore, Mr. Miyagi and Gandalf, with a dash of Alfred the Butler and a hint of Mickey Goldmill tossed into the mix.
And yet here we are.
And yet, here Rodgers is.
“The fact that you’re here and doin’ as well as you’re doin’ gives me — what do you call it? – motivization to stay alive,” Mick once told Rocky Balboa, “ ’cause I think that people die sometimes when they don’t wanna live no more.”
For two days there has been a quest to discover exactly what kind of sacred whispering Rodgers was doing into his microphone Sunday afternoon, as he watched the Jets pull off one of their greatest wins in years, 20-14 over the previously unbeaten Eagles. This came after he’d nearly cooked social media like a crawfish boil after throwing some balls pregame, walking without a limp.
All due respect Zach Wilson, who has led the Jets to a 3-3 start against the steepest part of their schedule — a gauntlet through which most Jets fans would’ve signed on for 3-3 in blood even with Rodgers at QB — Rodgers’ best use for the Jets is under center, not under headsets. If it still seems ludicrous to envision Rodgers making a comeback from Achilles surgery this season, it is still a star worth wishing on.
Rodgers has embraced his new role as a wise man, Merlin in a golf shirt.
But it doesn’t require much of a leap of faith to imagine what he was thinking, and feeling, tossing the rock around MetLife Stadium around 3 o’clock Sunday afternoon. And it sure doesn’t take much to know how the other folks in the room — both the stadium at-large and the smaller confines of the Jets’ dressing room — are thinking.
On Sunday, Jets coach Robert Saleh called Rodgers a “freakazoid.” On Monday, he expanded on those thoughts.
“Aaron is definitely one of those individuals that is fueled by doubt,” he said. “If you doubt him, it only makes him stronger because he has this, ‘Oh, you are telling me I can’t do something? Then I am going to show you I can.’ He is going to prove you wrong.”
Said Allen Lazard, who had five full years of the Zen of Rodgers in Green Bay before following him on the yellow brick road to Florham Park: “It lifts everyone’s spirits when they see Aaron Rodgers around the building, whether it’s in meetings or the locker room or on the sideline, just his presence is very comforting and encouraging. It’s been great to have him back.”
Saleh again, this time for the win: “His superpower is his presence. Him being around this building, being around his teammates, being around the locker room, his positive attitude, his thoughts of manifestation and all of that, I think it is powerful.”
So undoubtedly Rodgers could, if he chose, lead the Jedi Order, oversee Hogwarts, go chapter and verse on “wax on, wax off,” identify the exact moment to switch back to southpaw, run Wayne Manor and maybe whisper in Wilson’s ear, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
When he talks, the Jets listen.
When he walks, doctors shake their heads in wonder and internet conspiracy theorists shout to get a look at the MRI test of his Achilles. It’s all interesting, and it’s all good copy, and no doubt he’s going to earn his million bucks Tuesday afternoon when he joins his pal Pat McAfee for another tour through his treasure trove of wit and wisdom.
But he keeps hinting at more, and so until the world — and specifically the Jets’ small corner of it — is told otherwise, it is only natural that the world is going to want more. That’s why he came here, after all, to sling footballs, not philosophy. It’s why the various social media postings of Rodgers’ Ray Kinsella-esque game of catch totaled over 12 million views in 24 hours.
Hell, it’s why Robert Saleh unabashedly gushed to Peter King on Sunday: “That’s why getting wins like this and staying in it and staying in the hunt, giving him that opportunity to fulfill his mission, is so vital.”
No offense, Zach, but in case you’d forgotten, no matter how many wins you collect, you’re just one of those folks who sit in the seats at the Oscars and the Emmys when DiCaprio and Costner have to tend to nature’s call. Not that even Zach could mount a full rebuttal.
“I think he’s amazing,” Wilson said, and in that moment he almost looked like Daniel LaRusso talking about Nariyoshi Miyagi. And notable Jets fan Ralph Macchio would surely agree.
