Aaron Rodgers suffered a devastating Achilles injury that took him out for the year, just one play into his Jets debut. Now, he’s looking to Kobe Bryant as he recovers. Kobe suffered a similar Achilles deep into his career in 2013. Bryant was 34 years old at the time, and Rodgers is 39 right now. At this age, the injury could certainly be career-ending, or at the very least career-altering. Kobe came back from his injury, but there was a big dropoff in his performance before the injury and after it.
Advertisement
Of course, recovery procedures have evolved since Kobe’s injury, and while football is an intensive sport, an Achilles injury in basketball is potentially much more harmful. Aaron Rodgers is committed to coming back and playing. Retirement has been up in the air for the past several years for Rodgers, but he still hasn’t walked away from the game. He knows that he has more in the tank, and this injury is simply a setback.
Aaron Rodgers References Kobe Bryant on the Pat McAfee Show
Rodgers came on the Pat McAfee show to speak about the injury, and instantly Rodgers brought up Kobe Bryant. Kobe’s injury was very significant at the time, and right away on Monday Night, Rodgers remembered Kobe and sought out his doctor to see what the next steps were.
To his surprise, he found out that Kobe had gone for surgery the very next day. Rodgers wants to accelerate his timeline too as he knows that each day he waits, he loses time to get back on the field as quickly as possible.
Rodgers also admitted that he knew the odds were against him. The Jets QB knows he’s old, but he’s ready to take on the challenge. “Definitely some odds stacked against me based on age,” he acknowledged. “But I like it. Stack all the odds up against me and see what happens.”
Clearly, the former MVP isn’t ready to give up when so many NFL analysts and fans have written him off. Rodgers has never backed away from a fight, and he won’t start now.
“I knew that Kobe Bryant had done his Achilles and I thought about him on Monday night..
I have a friendship going back many years with Dr. Neal ElAttrache and I texted him from the locker room asking how quickly we could get this done” ~ @AaronRodgers12 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/tg1SqAsc3q
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 15, 2023
Rodgers Looks To Adopt the Mamba Mentality
Coming back from any injury isn’t easy, but having the right mindset goes a long way towards doing that. When Kobe injured his Achilles, he came back onto the court, shot his free throws, and then left the game.
Rodgers has the same fire under him that Kobe had. He wants to come back, and he wants to come back bad. He chose to leave Green Bay for New York this summer, and he wants to make sure he gives it his all to the team he chose.
