Aaron Rodgers eager for Green Bay Packers to finally play in NFL London Games: 'I'm excited to get over there'

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers says he is still desperate to play an NFL game in London before his career is over.

After the Houston Texans and Carolina Panthers both made the transatlantic trip last year, the Packers are now the only one of the NFL’s 32 teams yet to visit the UK for a regular-season game.

At present, four games take place in London each year, with two at Wembley and two at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This year’s games were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the Packers were not due to feature anyway.

It means that British fans have never had the chance to see Rodgers, one of the greatest players of all time, in the flesh, despite the fact that his career has spanned the entirety of the London Games’ existence.

And with the legendary quarterback now approaching his 37^th birthday, time is running out.

“It's amazing to me that we've been doing games in the UK for so long and it’s unfortunate that we're the only team that hasn't been over there yet,” Rodgers told NFL UK Live at Home.

“I've been wanting to go since the first time I heard about it. I've been a fan of English football for a long time.

“I know the history of many of those stadiums. I know just the type of fans over there and the sports fans that Europe and especially England has. So, I'm excited to get over there."

The Packers are unlikely to give up one of their eight home games per season because of the huge economic impact it would have in Green Bay, with each fixture at Lambeau Field thought to be worth around $15million to one of the league’s smallest markets.

Other franchises are also reluctant to give up a home fixture against the Packers because of their renowned travelling support.

“I think it's sacrilegious to take a game out of Lambeau,” Rodgers added. “You know, we're one of the smallest markets, if not the smallest market, but one of the oldest teams, been around for over 100 years now in the NFL. And there's obviously that history and tradition and the law of Lambeau Field.

“But on the flipside of that, we travel so well. We have so many fans all over the country and the world that nobody wants to give up a home game because, you know, it's going to be a sellout when the Packers come to town.

“The beauty, in our fandom, and I'm not sure what it's like in the UK, but we have Packer bars all over the country and world. I actually visited one on my travels to France.

"I was in Paris and got wind that there was a Packer bar there and went and met the owner and heard the stories. You're talking about middle of the night games, morning games sometimes and I just love hearing the stories about the fans that we have overseas.”

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