Yahoo Sports Aaron Rodgers wants to play until he's 40: 'I just think that number means a lot'
It’s a big offseason for Aaron Rodgers: He’s healthy after playing in just seven games last season, he’s a part-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, and he’s adjusting to life without former favorite target Jordy Nelson, who is now in Oakland. He also swam with sharks and met the Dalai Lama.
But the 34-year-old superstar isn’t afraid to look at the big picture either, telling NBC Sports’ Peter King that he wants to play until he’s 40.
Rodgers: Tom Brady is ‘rewriting the book’
Playing in a popular pro-am golf tournament at Lake Tahoe (where he also unleashed this awesome throw), Rodgers told King about his long-term goals:
I’d love to play to 40. I just think that number means a lot. Obviously, Tom [Brady] is kind of rewriting the book. Brett [Favre] had a good season when he turned 40. My goal is be able to move like I do or close to how I do and still be able to do that at 40 … just because nobody’s been able to do that and still move around the same … So to be able to move the same way at 38, 39, 40 would be cool. That’s my aim.
Rodgers also acknowledged the ability to play at an elite level at 40 is something that many greats, like Steve Young and John Elway, weren’t able to do. So just because Brady, who turns 41 in a few weeks, and Favre could do it doesn’t mean it’s a given.
Rodgers: retiring a Packer ‘my dream situation’
Rodgers has two years left on his current deal, which will pay him $22 million this season. That’s less money than eight other quarterbacks. Matt Ryan, at $30 million, is the highest-paid player in the league. Considering what others are making, Rodgers is one of the most underpaid players in the league.
Rodgers has been “frustrated” with the Packers front office, particularly by the release of Nelson and quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt. The Packers would like to lock Rodgers up for the remainder of his career if he doesn’t experience a dramatic and unexpected decline in production. And Rodgers would like to remain in Green Bay, too. But he knows that, too, doesn’t always work out, citing examples such as Favre, Nelson and Charles Woodson.
How many guys get to actually pick the way and the team how they go out? You know? Hardly anybody. You have to understand that’s a real possibility. But yeah, my dream situation would be to stay in Green Bay.
More from Yahoo Sports:
• World Cup: French champs taught their president how to dab
• Rickie Fowler startles fans with a 458-foot drive
• LeBron James shows up at Summer League in Lakers gear
• Beyonce and Jay-Z played the World Cup final before their Paris concert
