Going into the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love spoke about his desire to swap jerseys with Aaron Rodgers. After the game, the two shared a quick exchange, but they didn’t execute that trade. Love explained that Rodgers wanted to send their jerseys to each other later. Now, Love has confirmed that the swap happened.
“We did jersey swap,” Love said Tuesday on Up and Adams with Kay Adams. “We sent them to each other’s locker rooms. So, I got that jersey, which is awesome. It’s a really cool moment. Definitely something that will be hanging on my wall. I’m grateful for that moment between us.”
Love and Rodgers were teammates together in Green Bay from 2020-2022. When the Packers spent a first-round pick on Love, it became clear that he’d eventually replace Rodgers. This mirrored the Packers’ decision to draft Rodgers while Brett Favre was still their quarterback.
In that scenario, Favre wasn’t a great mentor to Rodgers. The two didn’t have the best relationship. Therefore, many people expected history to repeat itself with Rodgers and Love.
However, that wasn’t the case. The two of them formed a solid relationship, with Love being thankful for Rodgers’ help. Leading up to the game, Rodgers also expressed interest in getting Love’s jersey, showing that the respect goes both ways between them.
Considering Rodgers had just lost the game, it’s not too surprising that he didn’t want to swap jerseys with Love immediately. However, it’s good to hear that they eventually shared that moment. It would’ve been easy for Rodgers to be bitter and resentful towards Love. Instead, he showed class, giving the younger quarterback a keepsake to remember that game forever.
Unfortunately, Rodgers walks away with less fond memories of his first game against the Packers. He already weighed retirement this past offseason, so that may have been his only shot to beat Green Bay.
While he didn’t classify it as a revenge game, beating the Packers would’ve been a nice feather to add to Rodgers’ cap. He would’ve become just the fifth quarterback in NFL history to beat all 32 teams. Instead, he’s stuck at 31. We’ll see if he ever gets another shot at them.
