For Jordy Nelson, road to stardom started in Riley, Kan.

Jordy Nelson caught a lot of passes with his hands. He outran a lot of defensive backs with his legs. His near-psychic chemistry with Aaron Rodgers was rooted in his brain with the preparation that began as a kid growing up in Riley, Kan.

“I think I was very exposed as a kid with my coaches, to be honest with you,” Nelson said on Tuesday in announcing he was retiring as a member of the Green Bay Packers. “In middle school, I had a great coach that coached us in both football and basketball and kind of set the foundation. Even through high school, my coaches were great. I guess it started there.”

With the Packers, the foundation was the base for the hundreds of hours he spent with Rodgers. In Kansas, the foundation was built on burgers.

“During the week, we’d go over to our house and we’d order a bunch of cheeseburgers and fries from the local restaurant,” Nelson continued. “We’d have 10 to 20 guys in our basement and we’d put the tape in the VCR and watch film. We’d watch a couple games that evening. It must have grown from there. I remember vividly one evening doing that and we were playing a team that wasn’t very good and, honestly, there was no reason to watch the film, but I still had to. I couldn’t go into a game blind.”

WATCH JORDY NELSON

Nelson played 10 seasons for the Packers. He finished his career ranked third in franchise history in receptions (550), fifth in receiving yards (7,848) and second in receiving touchdowns (69). Nelson posted 1,250-plus receiving yards and 13-plus touchdown catches in 2011, 2014 and 2016. In NFL history, only Hall of Famers Jerry Rice (six), Randy Moss (five) and Terrell Owens (four) did it more.

A scoring machine, Nelson is the only player in Packers history to record three seasons of at least 13 touchdown receptions. In fact, from 2011 through 2016, there were only 18 seasons in which a player caught at least 13 touchdown passes. Nelson (three) and Dez Bryant (two) were the only players to do it more than once.

Most of that production came with Rodgers as the quarterback.

“A lot of it was listening my first couple years when I wasn’t playing as much,” said Nelson, who caught a total of 100 passes for six touchdowns in his first three seasons. “You’re talking to Donald (Driver) and Greg (Jennings) and James (Jones) and Ruvell (Martin) and guys that taught me a lot. When I came in, I had only played receiver for three years so I had a lot to learn in a fast period of time and at the highest level. Having those guys was very beneficial. And then listening to their conversations and trying to absorb it. One thing I always tried to do was never have to be told the second time. If Aaron was talking to Donald or Greg or those guys, I wanted to be able to learn from their mistakes and what they did well so he didn’t have to tell me a couple years later.

“We would spend a lot of time together on the field. If the defense was going, we were over taking a knee and talking about different things and trying to see the game the same way he did. I don’t know if it’s possible but tried as hard as possible to get there. It made the game very simple for us. Not easy but simple.”

In the process, Nelson became one of the NFL’s most-feared players. From 2011 through 2016, Nelson led the NFL with 17 touchdown receptions of 40-plus yards. That was more than eight teams during that span. If that’s not enough, he had 13 touchdown receptions of 50-plus yards. That was more than 14 teams. And that’s with missing the entire 2015 season with a knee injury.

“I don’t know. I honestly can’t answer,” Nelson said when asked why he was such a dynamic threat.

Nelson called Green Bay a “perfect” fit for he and his family. Rodgers said Nelson “personified class.”

And now, after a final NFL season with Oakland, Nelson was back in town to put a bow on a marvelous career.

“This is where I started and it’s great to come back and end it this way,” he said.