Jeff Saturday Speaks About Ending Season With Green Bay Packers
Written by Rob Reischel
Former Green Bay Packers have taken shots at quarterback Aaron Rodgers this off-season. Jeff Saturday wasn't going to complete the trifecta.
But Saturday — the Packer center for most of the 2012 campaign — didn't exactly give a ringing endorsement of Rodgers either.
During an interview Monday afternoon, Saturday was asked about Rodgers. The ex-center walked a politician's line, something former Packers Greg Jennings and Donald Driver didn't do when they were critical of Rodgers earlier this summer.
"In my experience, I didn't have the bad feelings like Greg and Donald did," Saturday said. "But I only played with him a short time. I didn't have the same amount of time with Aaron that those guys did.
"I felt Aaron got hit a ton last year, and he never came after us for it. The media would butcher us, and truth be told, there were a lot of times Aaron was hit and it wasn't our fault and he would let us know. He'd say, 'Hey, man, I know that's not on you.' So from that standpoint, the way he handled that part of it was fine. Like I said, though, I didn't have the same number of years that Greg and Donald had with him, so I can't say they're wrong either."
Saturday now works as an NFL analyst for ESPN. He's also doing some work in the Indianapolis Colts' front office.
Saturday was a member of the Executive Committee of the NFL Players' Association during his playing days. He was also a key negotiator in completing the 2011 collective bargaining agreement.
Considering his past — and present — it's no surprise he was staying out of the Rodgers-Jennings-Driver saga.
"Once Greg was gone I don't think that was necessary to go after Aaron, no matter what you think of him," Saturday said. "At the end of the day, he's a Viking now, and Donald's done.
"It's certainly their prerogative to say what they did, and I guess they felt like they needed to do that. But if you're Aaron and the guys on the Packers right now, you've just got to throw that stuff behind you and keep pressing forward."
Jennings began taking shots at Rodgers after signing a free-agent contract with Minnesota in March. Last month, Jennings was extremely critical of Rodgers' leadership, saying: "A lot of times when you have a guy who creates that spotlight for himself and establishes that and takes a lot of that, it becomes so-and-so and the team. It should always be the team."
He added: "When you hear all positives, all positives, all positives all the time, it's hard for you to sit down when one of your teammates says 'Man, come on, you've got to hold yourself accountable for this.' It's hard for someone to see that now because all they've heard is I'm doing it the right way, I'm perfect. In actuality, we all have flaws."
Driver was asked about Rodgers' leadership earlier this month and said, "You want that leadership, and I think sometimes you may not feel like you got it. You have to earn that respect at the end of the day, and I think that's what Greg was probably referring to."
If anyone might have had a beef with Rodgers, it was Saturday.
During Rodgers' weekly radio shows a year ago, he often sang the praises of then-No. 2 center Evan Dietrich-Smith. At one point Rodgers said: "I'm not going to make any bold, crazy predictions. But I do feel pretty certain that he's going to be with us for a long time and eventually be the starting center."
With just two games left in the regular season, Dietrich-Smith replaced Saturday in the lineup.
"As far as Aaron with that, I don't even worry about stuff like that. That's just the way it goes," Saturday said. "At the end of the day, I respect what any player has to say. If that's what he wants or thinks, that's his prerogative to say it. And if that's what he thought, then he had every right to speak his mind and say it.
"As far as I go, it didn't affect me one way or the other. I go to play every Sunday. I practice the way I thought I should and produced the way I thought I could. And I didn't have any regrets."
Saturday, who played his first 13 seasons in Indianapolis, also has no regrets about coming to Green Bay. When he was a free agent after the 2011 season, he weighed offers from Green Bay and Denver, and eventually chose the Packers.
While Saturday finished his stellar career — one that included six Pro Bowl appearances — on the bench, he doesn't regret finishing it as a Packer.
"I think I was surprised with the way it ended at the end of the season," Saturday said. "We had just clinched (the division) by going to Chicago and winning on the road. And then, once it happened and they decided to make the change between me and (Dietrich-Smith), I think I was surprised by that.
"Many players told me they were shocked about the situation and what happened. But that was their intention, to get Dietrich in there. Dietrich's going to be a heck of a center man. I like him a lot, think he's a great athlete
"But at the end of the day, I enjoyed the guys in Green Bay. We had a lot of fun. I loved the offensive line. I root for those guys. I still talk to those guys and text them. I enjoyed the guys. My family really enjoyed the community of Green Bay, and their people really treated me great. No regrets whatsoever."
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Source: JS Online
