Jordan Love at Super Bowl: ‘Special’ to be Quarterback for Packers
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Every quarterback faces pressure when he steps into the starting lineup for the first time. Few quarterbacks, however, faced more pressure than the Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love.
Excellence is the standard in Green Bay. Bart Starr won five NFL championships. Brett Favre resurrected a downtrodden franchise, winning one Super Bowl and three MVPs along the way. Aaron Rodgers, who faced perhaps the ultimate pressure cooker in replacing the beloved Favre, won one Super Bowl and four MVPs.
In 2023, of course, Love replaced Rodgers. After an inconsistent start, Love showed he could be the team’s next elite quarterback.
“Man, it is very special to be quarterback for the Green Bay Packers,” Love said on The Jim Rome Show at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas this week. “It’s the legacy that came before me (and) all the great quarterbacks that have been there with Aaron, Brett.
“Green Bay produces Hall of Fame quarterbacks and it’s an honor to be able to follow these guys. It definitely holds you to a higher standard, and you want to go out there and compete and be the best out there and be the next great quarterback in Green Bay. But it’s a special place to be. The fans are special in Green Bay. So, I’m loving being a part of that and hoping to carry on the legacy and tradition of great quarterback play.”
It would be easy for Love to brag – at least a little bit – following his debut season. He answered all the questions and shut down all the doubters during a marvelous stretch run.
Starting with Game 10 against the Chargers, the game that turned around the season, through the playoff-clinching finale against the Bears, Love ranked second in passer rating (112.7), second in completion percentage (70.3), second in touchdowns (18) and first in interceptions (one). He added three more touchdowns and had a near-perfect passer rating in the playoff demolition of Dallas.
However, Love deflected the praise to the coaching staff and his teammates. About the closest he got to taking a victory lap was when Rome relayed a comment from running back Aaron Jones on how Love “shut up” the critics.
“Yeah, he’s absolutely right,” Love said.
And then, it was back to eluding the praise with the ease that he eludes the pass rush.
“It’s awesome to be able to hear some praise from Aaron Jones,” Love continued. “That’s my brother. That’s my guy. I love him. Everybody on our team loves him. He’s like the heart and soul of our team, the leader (with) the way he handles himself, shows up to work every day. He’s a great person, but he’s an even better teammate and NFL player.
“So, I love that man. He’s awesome, phenomenal player. The way he shows up to work every day, he sets the example for everybody on the team. He sets the example for the young guys we got on the team, for me when I got there, just how he handles himself. He’s a pro, he does it the right way and it’s no wonder why he has so much success on the field.”
In a separate interview with Sports Illustrated (see the accompanying video), Love talked about what it meant to watch and learn behind Rodgers for three seasons.
“Man, it was a blessing being able to sit behind A-Rod,” Love said. “Just being able to see him every day, see how he plays the position, see the cool things he does, and my biggest thing I took away was the consistency. He’s the same dude every day at practice, in the game.
“He’s making crazy plays in practice, putting the ball on the money, and it opened my eyes up just how consistent a great quarterback is – a Hall of Fame quarterback – and it propelled me to be like, ‘Man, I want to be like that. I want to make plays like this. I want to be just as good as him,’ and it’s just motivation. So, I’m blessed to be able to say I sat behind him and learned and got to see a Hall of Fame legend do it.”
The annual uncertainty revolving around Rodgers’ future was “probably the toughest part” of Love’s three seasons. However, Love maximized that time. Soaking in Rodgers’ experience and the coaching of Matt LaFleur has put him in position to be the next great quarterback for a franchise that’s won 13 NFL championships because of the play of its passers.
With the Chiefs and 49ers set to battle in the Super Bowl on Sunday, the Packers have the 10th-shortest odds for next year at FanDuel Sportsbook. Love, because of his talent and how he handled a challenging situation, is a big reason why.
“I’m very grateful for that opportunity. It made me a much better player because of it,” Love said of Rodgers. “And then, obviously, Matt, he’s awesome. Awesome head coach. I got a lot of love for him, just how he coaches, how he handles himself, how he gets us ready every week. Obviously, he’s a quarterback guy. He does some great things to get me ready to play the position at a high level. He’s a very, very, very smart coach, both offensively and defensively.
“Just his mindset as an offense, he does some really cool stuff. And it’s awesome to be a part of that, be able to see all the plays he’s cooking up throughout the week to attack the defenses. I can’t say enough good things about Matt.”
