Aaron Rodgers pays a heartfelt tribute to ‘classy’ Bill Belichick’s legendary 24-year coaching tenure with the Patriots

In the span of 24 hours, football world witnessed some era-ending good byes.

Aaron Rodgers pays a heartfelt tribute to ‘classy’ Bill Belichick’s legendary 24-year coaching tenure with the Patriots

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers speaks with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick before a game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets on January 7, 2024, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Via Imago)

In a surprising event in the NFL world, Aaron Rodgers made an appearance on the Pat McAfee show to discuss the farewell of two of the greatest football personalities, Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, from their respective dynasty teams.

In the span of 24 hours, Saban took retirement while Belichick mutually parted with the New England Patriots. After consecutive losing seasons, owner Robert Kraft had enough and took the harsh step to relive one of the greatest maestros of professional football. One of the most successful journeys in football came to an end after Pats and Belichick parted ways.

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Speaking on the topic, Rodgers said,

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Those are two iconic, iconic coaches.

The four-time league MVP elaborated:

I think in general we play this game, we love this game, there's this idea about game changers and people who actually change the gamer. In actuality, there's very few people who really move the game forward, players or coaches. But when you're talking about people who actually made a difference in the game and moved the game forward and were trailblazers and game changers, Bill Belichick and Nick Saban were those guys.

This season, Rodgers was unable to play a single game for his newly-signed franchise. He started in the first game and suffered a season-ending Achilles Tendon injury. There were speculations that he could come back if the Jets could make it to the playoffs. However, that did not happen.

As things stand right now, the quarterback can come back in the next season. His comeback has triggered hope among the Jets fans.

Rodgers spoke about Bill Belichick’s nature of communicating with him

Rodgers also admitted during the same segment that Bill Belichick used to talk with him every time the quarterback played against the veteran. In Rodgers’ words, the veteran waited to speak with the quarterback.

Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick (via Imago)
We played him in 2018 and 2022 and both times he waited to make sure that he saw me after the game.. I have so much respect for him doing that and it's one of the classiest things ever.

In addition, the 40-year-old also added that Belichick was one of a kind. His love for the game was unparalleled and that made him special. The veteran QB also noted that Belichick made it sure to speak about football every time they met. 

One of my favorite things about Bill is his love for the game, whether he's talking about the top 100 players or watching some of those segments. Or whether it's him and I bs-ing on the field before a Week 18 ultimately meaningless—as far as in the standings—game about a 2019 game that happened at MetLife and throwing a backside post route to Allen Lazard in a torrential snow-down--That's just the guy he is.

Belichick’s future remains uncertain though. There are multiple teams where the 71-year-old can land. On the other hand, the Patriots will also look for a new head coach.

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