Motivation

Almost all Packers fans by now should know something about how Rodgers has motivated himself throughout his football career. All along his career nay-sayers and doubters provided motivation Rodgers used to excel at his next challenge. With the 20/20 hindsight history provides its clear one of the best things that happened to Aaron was being snubbed by division one colleges as he graduated high school. It steered him to Butte College and to a wealth of experience for a young, talented, and underestimated QB. Without Rodgers’ impressive physical gifts his motivation wouldn’t mean much. But without his intense desire to succeed, those physical gifts would be wasted to one degree or another.

Incredibly, Rodgers is even better than that. Here is a great article on jsonline about how Rodgers motivates teammates. I apologize up front for bringing up a sore subject but the contrast is so stark its unavoidable. My biggest problem with Favre was he was not careful with the ball, even in the biggest games. But I also had a problem with how he dealt with his teammates. Part of the reason I thought he should have been at all the off season activities he tried to avoid was they would have allowed him to bond with his new and newer teammates. Instead, I remember reading stories that said he didn’t even know all of his teammate’s names. I realized things were about to change significantly in 2008 when I read Rodgers was going to host an off season party at his house for all of his teammates. And that was just the beginning. From the jsonline story: “Rodgers takes the time to educate himself on his teammates by being observant and making the effort to get to know them.”

We’ve read the stories about how Rodgers has interacted with Finley and Jones, but the real story is he’s interacted with all of his teammates. The article tells the story that within two days of his arrival in Green Bay, Tim Masthay did a triple-take as he realized the guy who knew his first name and was joking around with him was none other than Aaron Rodgers. Masthay at the time was an NFL “nobody”. Rodgers admits to making a mistake in trying to motivate Starks but even when he does, the players know he cares. And here’s what struck me most as I was reading the article: Rodgers attempt at knowing each of his teammates as individuals, many with vastly different life experiences, and trying to find the best way of motivating them is what elevated Vince Lombardi from a great HC to a legendary one. If you haven’t already, read what Jerry Kramer has to say on the subject of Lombardi as master motivator. No, Rodgers isn’t Lombardi but there’s a parallel between the two that is striking. If you haven’t already, it will be worth your while to check out the jsonline article.

That was a great article. Note the change in my sig caption. I think that's it, don't you?

Lori easily writes the best articles.. Only a matter of time before bigger publications find her.. Milwaukee Journal can only hide her for so long..