“He Was Expecting Nirvana”: After Watching Aaron Rodgers’ Netflix Doc, Skip Bayless Deduces What Caused the QB’s Downfall

“It is painfully obvious to me exactly what happened to Aaron Rodgers’ career, no Enigma needed,” Skip Bayless proclaimed on his show, while giving his two cents on the Netflix documentary that told Rodgers’ life story. After watching the three-part doc, Skip is confident that the former Green Bay quarterback peaked early in his career, but afterward, he had no vision for the future.

In the documentary, Rodgers looked back at his Super Bowl XLV win and said, “Is this all there is?” This gave Skip the impression that the feeling Rodgers experienced was underwhelming. He expected something bigger after achieving the win every NFL player dreams of—something possibly out of this world.

“He and his 2010 Packers came from nowhere with no expectations. As a road wild card team and what wait a second they won the Super Bowl? Yup, they did. And as Aaron says in the Netflix doc, that night after winning the Super Bowl it hit him that winning it all didn’t really make him that happy. His reaction was, ‘Is this all there is?’ I think he was expecting Nirvana. Heaven on earth.”

Skip concluded that this surprise victory placed more expectations on Rodgers’ shoulders and that he set a standard that even the QB himself was afraid he couldn’t match. Since then, Rodgers has won several personal accolades but no Super Bowl—not even an appearance. Skip claimed that his drive to do so is now gone.

Rodgers’ blockbuster performances year after year, especially his four MVPs, led to comparisons with elite QBs like Tom Brady. But for Skip, he was the complete opposite of Brady.

“This is all why Aaron Rodgers–as I said from the start–is the flip-side of Tom Brady. Brady won his first Super Bowl and he could not wait to win his second, and his third, and his fourth… It’s been 15 years since Aaron Rodgers played in his one and only Super Bowl because he was never ever obsessed with playing in his first Super Bowl. To Aaron Rodgers, football is just a game.”

Bayless has almost always been critical of Aaron Rodgers, so this conclusion from the Netflix doc was expected. However, it also makes some sense, considering how Rodgers went down a path to rediscover himself after winning it all on the big stage — almost as if he wanted to find the true meaning of life. Over the years, football started to seem less like his first priority.