Aaron Rodgers has joined the party in best-shape-of-his-life season

There’s no annual tradition quite like the “Best Shape of My Life” summer in the NFL. This year, New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers is joining the club. 

“I’m in the best shape of my life.” It’s a sports tale as old as time. From the dawn of man, the driving purpose of ‘sport’ has been to showcase the superior physique and athleticism of trained athletes.

Despite the bulk of padding and helmets, even NFL players fall prey to this annual pageantry. Every summer, players show up in the “best shape of their lives.” Think Jameis Winston, Le’Veon Bell, Adrian Peterson. In every player’s life, there comes a point where they must sacrifice the pleasures of a slow summer and arrive at camp in the greatest. possible. condition. 

Aaron Rodgers is a repeat offender, and he’s back in 2023 looking thoroughly ripped for his first go-around with the New York Jets. A photo of Rodgers lifting weights from Proactive Sports Performance on Instagram is making the social media rounds.

Aaron Rodgers is in the best shape of his life for the New York Jets

It’s clear Rodgers has a chip on his shoulder after a few years of prickly relations and middling success in Green Bay. He’s out to prove that he can win without ‘Packers’ across his chest, not unlike the mission Tom Brady once embarked on with Tampa Bay.

The Jets have done their part to surround Rodgers with talent at every position. The offensive depth chart balances youth and experience commendably, and Rodgers has a few familiar faces to ease his transition into Nathaniel Hackett’s offense. Primarily Randall Cobb, who spent many years as Rodgers’ most bankable target in Green Bay.

As always, there is a difference between bulking up for the camera in workout sessions and actually translating your improved physique into better results on the field. Rodgers is 39 years old. We may have a warped sense of what’s possible at the QB position after Brady’s run, but not every quarterback can sling it at a competitive level into their mid-40s. Rodgers is battling Father Time right now.

Last season was one of Rodgers’ worst since he took over the starting reins in 2008. He completed 64.6 percent of his passes (way down from his back-to-back MVP seasons beforehand) and he threw for 3,695 yards, the lowest mark of his career in a fully healthy season. And that was with an extra game added to the schedule.

A bad Rodgers season looks great compared to most of the NFL’s quarterbacks, but it’s clear he’s on the decline. The Jets took the gamble and spent a lot of assets to acquire Rodgers. He is expected to put New York on the map and lead them to contention in the AFC, a tall task considering the presence of other great in-conference QBs such as Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Josh Allen — all of whom are on the right side of 30 and squarely in their athletic primes.

Rodgers is looking to pull off the improbable. A Super Bowl run with the Jets would cement his legacy as one of the truly great quarterbacks in NFL history, a status he has practically achieved already despite only netting one ring with Green Bay. But time is against him — and so is his body, no matter how shredded his arms look. Rodgers is battling the biological forces of nature. Can he win?