Jets Hall of Famer Joe Klecko changes mind about Aaron Rodgers
Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Klecko is one of the best Jets ever. But unlike fans in NYC, the big defensive lineman wasn’t clamoring for Aaron Rodgers to come save his old team. Rather, he thought the quarterback could be a lockerroom distraction.
Now Klecko has had a change of heart.
First, let’s give some context. The Jets officially traded for Rodgers in the days leading up to April’s NFL Draft. But Rodgers proclaimed six weeks before that he was leaving the Packers to play in New York. It took weeks to work out the trade details.
That gave plenty of time for every football fan in the country to offer an opinion on the polarizing quarterback who is headed into his 18th season in the league. Klecko, who played for the Jets from 1977 to 87, didn’t think the quarterback was a good fit.
“When (Aaron Rodgers) didn’t have the perfect arrangement with the receivers and game plan and line, his attitude is condescending so much to the player,” Klecko said. “He didn’t want to come back to the huddle and all.”
However, Rodgers showed up at Jets headquarters in Florham Park, NJ with plans for a charm offensive, on the field and off of it. He showed up at OTAs and minicamp to learn and bond with his new teammates. Rodgers also socialized with his new friends. He went to the NBA playoff games with Sauce Gardner and Allen Lazard. And he even attended the Tony Awards with C.J. Uzomah.
Klecko now compares Aaron Rodgers to Tom Brady
Klecko likes what he sees.
“He’s a different duck, he really is, there’s no doubt,” Klecko said during an interview this week on the Jake Asman Show. “But as far as him as a football player, I’ve always said, as far as an accurate passer, there probably maybe has never been one as good and presently there’s not. He’s the best accurate passer in the league and a four-time MVP. . . . My only contention was how he was going to get along with the young guys, you know?”
Klecko said hhe began noticing that Aaron Rodgers was making an effort to get along with everyone. And he remembered what it was like when he played for Jets decades ago.
“I made a reference to it, because the team I was on, we grew together,” Klecko said. “That was really a cool thing, because we got along so well. That’s what I was hoping, which (Rodgers) now has shown. He’s ingratiated the rest of the team, and he’s out there teaching guys. He’s doing the things that you see a Tom Brady do.”
Wait, Tom Brady? Klecko does have high praise for the news Jets QB.