Packers' Aaron Rodgers says he wants to retire before he hits 40
Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback for the Packers, told Monday Morning Quarterback that he wants to play in the league for eight more seasons.
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Aaron Rodgers doesn't want to play football when he's in his forties, like some quarterbacks named Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Instead, he has a lower number in mind.
Eight -- that's how many more seasons a 31-year-old Rodgers wants to play, according to Peter King of Monday Morning Quarterback.
If Rodgers were to play for another eight seasons, then he'd retire following the 2022 season at the age of 39. As King points out in his article, if Rodgers can withstand the rigors of the game for that long, then the Packers' quarterback duo of Rodgers and Brett Favre will have spanned three decades. The last time a Packers quarterback not named Rodgers or Favre was the starter for a season was in 1991 when Mike Tomczak and Don Majkowski split the majority of the snaps for then-coach Lindy Infante.
And really, it's not a far-fetched notion to think that Rodgers can last until 2022. While Rodgers uses his athleticism and arm strength to tear apart opposing defenses and, while those skills will deteriorate as he ages, Rodgers is also known as one of the most intelligent quarterbacks in the game.
The Packers frequently rely on Rodgers' ability to make quick decisions on the fly, as one component of their offense is something called a packaged play, which contains both a run and a pass option at the onset of the play. Once the play begins and the action is live, Rodgers makes a decision to hand the ball off or to throw the ball. Rodgers runs packaged plays perhaps better than any other quarterback in the league.
That's just one example of Rodgers' intelligence. And it's tough to see Rodgers losing that edge in the next eight years. Instead, he should continue to improve as he gains more and more experience. If Peyton Manning, with very limited arm strength, can thrive in the NFL at this point in his career, then Rodgers should too, as long as he's able to stay relatively healthy.
The rest of the NFC North and the entire league might have a while to go before they no longer have to deal with No. 12 up at Lambeau Field.
