DENVER — As soon as the top-seeded Green Bay Packers bowed out of the NFL Playoffs early, yet again this year, the Aaron Rodgers rumors began to fly.
“I'm going to take some time and have conversations with the folks around here,” Rodgers said. “It's fresh right now. It's a little shocking for sure.”
Broncos fans and sports writers lit up social media and the web with all kinds of scenarios on the future Hall of Famer's future.
“We need to do something,” said Broncos fan Kerry Walter. “We need to shake it up and get something going.”
Could Aaron Rodgers be the future face of the Denver Broncos?
“Aaron Rodgers, right now more than any other NFL player, divides a room,” said Zach Bye, co-host of Stokley and Zach on 104.3 The Fan.
Bye sees the dilemma for Denver.
Should the Broncos do everything in their power to lure an undeniable talent? Or should the team pass on what the Westword recently wrote was "inarguable douchebaggery?"
“There’s some in Broncos Country who say, ‘Yeah, he’s a great quarterback – I still don’t want him here,’” Bye said. “You could actually make a case that Aaron Rodgers is the most underachieving quarterback of his generation. To be as talented as he is with an organization as stable as Green Bay, contrasted with the lack of success.”
Former Denver Bronco and Super Bowl champion Ryan Harris says Rodgers would be hard to pass up.
“If you get Aaron Rodgers here, you’re immediately a Super Bowl contender,” Harris said. “The good thing for the Broncos, you have a precedent of veteran quarterbacks winning championships. Not just Peyton Manning coming here and having success, but John Elway finding success later in his career.”
He says this is a franchise with championship expectations, which matter more than an athlete's off-the-field antics, like Rodgers' anti-vaccine stance.
“We have fans upset with Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, LeBron James,” Harris said. “I’m one who says let athletes, let people speak their minds.”
Broncos fans seem to agree.
“Having not sniffed a playoff game in five years, let’s try it,” said Broncos fan Mike Mulkins. “I’m willing to try it.”
“I think people like to make him a villain,” said Broncos fan Kerry Walter. “Because he’s so good at what he does – just like they do [Tom] Brady.”
“I can’t stand him with the Packers and all those [State Farm] Discount Double Check commercials,” said life-long Broncos fan Jordan Walter. “But I like him as a guy and a player.”
“I would like him if he wore blue and orange, there’s no doubt about it,” Mulkins said. “I’ll learn to like him.”
Like scoring Peyton Manning a few years ago, fans can’t help but dream that landing Rodgers, who is still one of the league's elites, might be like catching lightning in a bottle twice.
“I think he’d do a lot of good here,” Walter said. “I think we could get another Super Bowl.”
“Let’s see what happens in Denver,” Mulkins said. “I’d love to cheer him on right here.”
“Oh, Aaron Rodgers – come to Denver,” said Harris. “We want you. You can win here, and you’re going to make the town happy.”
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