ESPN’s Mike Greenberg can’t get enough of Aaron Rodgers.
On Monday’s segment of “Get Up,” Greenberg discussed Rodgers’ defense of Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett after Sean Payton’s disparaging remarks last week, and he loves the star quarterback’s bite.
“Can you imagine any other quarterback the Jets have had since Joe Namath saying that?” Greenberg exclaimed.
“Aaron freaking Rodgers can get up there and say anything he wants and he’s right, Sean Payton shouldn’t have said that.”
Payton, the new Broncos head coach, took a few digs at Hackett in an interview with USA Today.
“It might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL,” Payton said about Hackett’s tenure with the Broncos, which lasted 15 games.
Rodgers took that personally — Hackett was his offensive coordinator for three years in Green Bay — and offered a strong stance while speaking with NFL+ after Sunday’s practice.
“It made me feel bad that someone who has accomplished a lot in the league is that insecure that they have to take another man down to set themselves up for some sort of easy fall if it doesn’t go well for that team this year,” Rodgers said of Hackett.
“I think it was way out of line, inappropriate, and I think he needs to keep my coaches’ names out of his mouth.”
Rodgers’ outspokenness absolutely made Greenberg’s Monday as he was dabbing his face with a sweat cloth and moving around in his chair.
“I can’t speak for the locker room, I can speak for me. We love it,” Greenberg said. “I can’t sit, I’m too excited.”
While Payton apologized for his comments during a press conference on Friday, his jabs at Hackett and the Jets as a whole will no doubt add another layer of competition to the two teams’ Oct. 8 matchup.
“I had one of those moments where I still had my Fox hat on and not my coaching hat on,” Payton said.
“It was a learning experience for me. It was a mistake, obviously. I needed a little bit more filter … I said what I said, and, obviously, I needed a little bit more restraint, and I regret that.”
Greenberg, an unabashed Jets fan, was living and dying with the Rodgers drama this offseason until the Jets finally completed a trade for the future Hall of Famer.
“I’m drenched in sweat,” Greenberg said. “I’m dripping.”
