Jets Trade Brought Aaron Rodgers Back to Cal Days

An ESPN.com report on Wednesday takes us step-by-step through the process that brought Aaron Rodgers from the Packers to the Jets.

It runs through Jets general manager Brian Gutekunst's inability to contact Rodgers during a crucial period of the offseason to the influence Rodgers' agent David Dunn had on the negotiations to the trade talks themselves to Rodgers' restructured contract.

However, what may be of particular interest to Cal fans was the way the story began. Here are the first two paragraphs of that ESPN.com story:

When Aaron Rodgers' head hit the pillow on the night of April 25 in a suburban New Jersey hotel room, his mind traveled back to Berkeley, California, the summer of 2003.

It was his first year at Cal, his first time away from home. He slept in a dingy fraternity house, excited about his journey into the unknown. Those same feelings washed over him after being traded to the New York Jets.

The journey at Cal is no longer unknown, as he became a topflight quarterback at Cal in 2003 and an absolute star in 2004, when the Bears finished the regular season ranked No. 4 and Rodgers finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

What might have been unknown is that he "slept in a dingy fraternity house" when he first arrived at Cal. We'd like to know which fraternity house it was and whether it is offended by being called "dingy." Some might say the term "dingy fraternity house" is redundant, but we would not be so judgmental.

We are all eager to see how the former Cal quarterback fares with the Jets, with expectation sky high -- a lot higher than they were when Rodgers arrived at Cal after spending a season at Butte Community College. Virtually no one knew who Rodgers was then, and that included Cal coach Jeff Tedford, who noticed Rodgers at a Butte practice only because he was there to assess Butte tight end Garrett Cross. (Cross came to Cal too, by the way.)

You may have noticed that at least once when starting offensive players are identified early in a Sunday Night Football game that Rodgers notes he is from Butte Community College, not Cal.

Well, he was thinking of Cal, not Butte Community College, on April 27, 2023.

Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers and Spike Lee at a Knicks game is by Brad Penner, USA TODAY Sports

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