Tom Brady says sitting behind Aaron Rodgers was decisive for Jordan Love's success with the Packers
Especially in today's NFL, it's rare for teams to sit first-round quarterbacks. The Kansas City Chiefs kept Patrick Mahomes behind Alex Smith for a year, but that's already too much time by league's usual standards. But the Green Bay Packers operate differently, and they gave Jordan Love three years behind Aaron Rodgers. For seven-time Super […]
Especially in today's NFL, it's rare for teams to sit first-round quarterbacks. The Kansas City Chiefs kept Patrick Mahomes behind Alex Smith for a year, but that's already too much time by league's usual standards. But the Green Bay Packers operate differently, and they gave Jordan Love three years behind Aaron Rodgers.
For seven-time Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, who's going into his first season as a TV analyst, that opportunity to sit behind a great player made all the difference for Love's development.
"He had Aaron Rodgers to watch. That's the best type of training, in my opinion. Watch someone else do it at a very high level and then try to emulate them with your own personality," Brady said on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. "Maybe a little bit of a misnomer with the draft is that these players can come in and all of the sudden become this great professional player before they've really had the training and the development."
The Packers moved up in the first round in 2020 to select Jordan Love with the 26th overall pick. At that time, Aaron Rodgers had four years left in his deal. The veteran won two MVP in the next two seasons, but Green Bay failed to win a second title with him under center.
In 2022, Rodgers regressed and the Packers missed the playoffs, opening the door for a trade to the New York Jets last offseason.
Jordan Love finished his first season as a starter completing 64.2% of his passes, 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Love also led the Packers to a playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys, finishing the postseason with an 108.6 passer rating.
Personal experience
Tom Brady himself took advantage of a slower path to a starting job. He entered the league as a sixth-round pick in 2000, but the New England Patriots had Drew Bledsoe as an established starter.
However, Bledsoe got injured in 2001, giving Tom Brady the chance to finally start — and he never looked back. After a Super Bowl win in Brady's first starting season, the Patriots moved on from Bledsoe, trading him to a divisional rival, the Buffalo Bills, in the 2002 offseason.
Jordan Love reached out to former Packers QB Aaron Rodgers after his injury
The duo formed a good relationship during their time with the Packers, so of course Love had to make sure his buddy was OK.
