Aaron Rodgers talks about awkward hug with Greg Jennings
By Mike Dyce
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption on Tuesday. He discussed the awkward end of fame hug with former teammate, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings.
Jennings had spent the majority of the offseason trash-talking his former team and his former quarterback through the media. He did try to backtrack before the game.
“Probably took it a little too far,” Jennings said, via USA TODAY. “No, I was happy there. Obviously, there’s things that go on throughout life that you wish would be different. But it is what it is. You have to roll with the punches. Obviously, on my end of it, I feel like there were a lot of things that were kind of manipulated to appear a lot worse than what I was intending for them to be. That’s just, as a player, you have to watch what you say, so you learn and you grow.”
It didn’t make their post-game interaction any less awkward though. This is how the conversation went on Pardon the Interruption:
Tony Kornheiser: “It seemed to last forever and ever and ever. Was it as awkward for you as it appeared to be on camera?”
Aaron Rodgers: “It was a long hug, for sure. It was a prolonged one, yes…. It seemed a little bit longer with all the cameras around. But, you know, it was two competitors after the game, words were said, and then we went our separate ways.”
Michael Wilbon: “It seems to me 99.9 percent of the time you let these [post-game hugs] roll right off your back and they mean nothing. Did this one mean anything at the time?
Rodgers: “This one would probably fit in the 99.9% that you’re talking about. Every now and then one comes along that might mean a little something to you. Not this one.”