The number 16 has a dark history with the Green Bay Packers. Ask Aaron Rodgers. Something in the air in football's oldest continuous professional franchise has tempted stars and quarterbacks away for over a century.
That's right, over the franchise's 100-year history (the longest of any team in one location), no quarterback has ever managed to play more than 16 seasons with the Packers. Aaron Rodgers was set to finally set the record with this season, but in light of recent developments in the relationship between him and the Green Bay front office, that might not be true anymore:
No Packers QB has played 17 seasons with the team
Aaron Rodgers has played 16 seasons
Brett Favre played 16 seasons
Bart Starr played 16 seasons pic.twitter.com/YGvdS1NorK— Matt Pomeroy (@MattPomPom) April 29, 2021
For Packers fans, it's probably very painful to see both Aaron and Brett Favre on this list. Bart Starr too, for older fans.
For those of you that don't remember, Favre was infamous for his feelings toward the budding talent of Aaron Rodgers, and had apparently resigned and retired from the Packers on his own terms. That was of course before he said “sike!” and signed with the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay's bitter arch rivals, to lead them quite successfully — very nearly to the Super Bowl in the 2009 season.
To go straight from that pain to Aaron Rodger's prospective departure on the heels of an MVP season for the Packers is just cruel.
Now, let's not get it twisted, 16 years is no joke. But outside of Starr, Favre and Rodgers (if Rodgers does indeed leave before this season ends) had plenty of football left in the tank. Sure, the relationship with the Packers might have soured, but hell, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick got along fine in the midst of hating one another with the Patriots.
For Packers fans, here's hoping that this is just another bump in the road.
But knowing their history, 16 might just continue to be the wrong type of magic number for the Green Bay Packers.
Follow Us
Subscribe