Packers Rave About ‘Old Man’ Aaron Rodgers, Who Keeps Old Nickname

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Monday, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur wasn’t quite prepared to discuss what he’s seen from his former quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.

He was on Wednesday – complete with a joke – as the team was about to hit the practice field for the first time this week before Sunday night’s game at the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“He looks like he can still do anything. What’s surprising for such an old man, he’s still moving around pretty good,” LaFleur said of the 41-year-old quarterback.

Rodgers enters Week 8 ranked ninth in the NFL with a passer rating of 105.0. That would be his best since winning NFL MVP for the Packers in 2021. Rodgers is fourth in touchdown passes but first in touchdown percentage.

Rodgers’ career is defined by numbers. He’s a four-time MVP. In NFL history, he ranks fourth in passing touchdowns, fifth in passing yards and sixth in completions. For most of his career, he’s been No. 1 all-time in passer rating; he’s No. 2 now, just behind Lamar Jackson.

He’s also defined, at least in Green Bay, by another number.

12.

That’s what Christian Watson called him on Wednesday. The best season of his career came as a rookie in 2022, when he caught 41 passes for 611 yards and seven touchdowns. He caught a total of seven touchdowns in 2023 and 2024.

Three of those rookie-year touchdowns came in a breakout game against Dallas.

“It was huge for my confidence, especially, getting that weight lifted off my shoulders, feeling like ‘12’ could trust me to make plays,” Watson said. “I think that was huge for me to have a game like that, for sure, and it definitely lit a spark in me, for sure, and the rest is history that year. That game was huge.”

Cornerback Keisean Nixon’s first season in Green Bay also came alongside Rodgers in 2022.

“I did not want to come here,” Nixon said. “I hated it here when I first got here and I used to just be kind of miserable.”

Rodgers wondered why Nixon was so “mad and angry.” Rodgers changed Nixon’s thinking, starting with their first hug before the team’s Week 5 trip to London.

“It means a lot because you hear when you come to Green Bay, you hear stories about ‘12’ and stuff like that – arrogance, mean and stuff like that. But it was never that,” Nixon said.

Aaron Rodgers celebrates a touchdown while with the Packers. | Dan Powers / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“I never experienced that with Aaron. It was always good vibes. He always lifted players up. I remember when I was kind of going through a slump early on in that year, I wasn’t playing that much. He was just telling me, ‘It’s going to come. Just be ready.’ He was always telling me to keep that dawg in me.”

Part of that dawg was Nixon’s blossoming role as a kickoff returner. Rodgers was one of Nixon’s greatest sources of encouragement.

“I look on the sideline and he telling me, ‘Just take it out. I don’t give a (expletive).’ That’s really what it was,” Nixon continued. “He instilled confidence in me really early, and I would always make a play and he’d be the first one to come over to the sideline and congratulate me, so that was always big as a young player, especially who he was as a person. I always appreciate him, for sure.”

Rodgers remains a quality starting quarterback, and is a big reason why Pittsburgh (4-2) leads the AFC North.

“What he’s doing is what I’ve been seeing ‘12’ do – but now he’s wearing ‘8,’” Rashan Gary said.

While he’s lost some of the sheer talent that made him a dominant force in Green Bay, his infinite knowledge of the game gives him the mental edge.

There will be no need to try to disguise coverage this week, Nixon said.

“I think this is a line-up-and-just-play” kind of game, he said. “I’ve been on the other side with ‘12’ like this when I was with the Raiders. My first year in the league, we played here and I remember like Karl Joseph was in like a Cover-2 and like Aaron stopped the play, was like, ‘Karl, get back to your half.’

“So, it’s nothing that he hasn’t seen before, so I just think it’s a line-up-and-play ballgame. I don’t really think the disguise is going to be doing things for him. There’s nothing he hasn’t seen. That’s just ‘12,’ well, ‘8,’ I guess.”

Rodgers, who will have no shortage of motivation, will be a major test for Green Bay’s defense because of his arm talent and experience.

What stuck out to LaFleur about the “old man” is he can still move.

In-his-prime Rodgers was a major factor on the run, whether it was extending plays or scrambling for first downs. Twilight-of-his-career Rodgers isn’t nearly the threat, but he can still make defenders miss. Of his 11 runs, he has a 10-yarder on the ledger.

“You’ve seen it in multiple games,” LaFleur said. “He had an off-schedule the other day vs. Cincinnati where they drop eight and he’s running back and forth the field, throws a touchdown pass. Obviously, the one to (Pat) Freiermuth, the 70-yarder he had, he got out of the pocket. Made a hell of a throw on that one.”

The Steelers, of course, didn’t sign Rodgers to run. Otherwise they would have kept Justin Fields. Instead, it’s his ability to throw it. The right arm that won four NFL MVPs is as good as ever, which he showed on the final play of the loss at Cincinnati, when Rodgers threw the ball from the 32-yard line and it was batted down by a leaping Bengals defender just past the goal line.

“The arm strength is still plenty there,” LaFleur said. “You especially saw it on the Hail Mary. I mean, I don’t know many guys who can throw the ball over 70 yards in the air. I’m not quite sure how far it went but it had to have been at least 70 yards. It’s still pretty impressive what he can do.

“He can throw with pinpoint accuracy. There was one – I know the ball ended up getting picked off – but it was two-man on DK (Metcalf) and he threads the needle and the DB just ripped it away, but it was a great pass. This guy is extremely accurate and he can, if you give him just a sliver of light, he can fit the ball in there.”

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