- Aaron Rodgers was traded from the Packers to the Jets, as was his “intent.”
- Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst had previously told reporters that Rodgers had not returned several phone calls.
- Rodgers said at his Jets news conference Wednesday that he has poor cell reception at home and has to communicate via FaceTime.
If you want to communicate with Aaron Rodgers, you must do it on FaceTime.
That’s according to Rodgers himself, who blamed poor cell reception for not answering calls from the Green Bay Packers at his introductory news conference with the New York Jets on Wednesday.
In March, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst told reporters at an NFL league meeting that he had tried to contact Rodgers “many times.” At the time, Rodgers had already said on “The Pat McAfee Show” that his “intent” was to play for the Jets and that he wanted to leave because he believed the Packers were ready to move on from him.
“Our inability to contact him or for him to respond in any way,” Gutekunst said from the meetings in response to a question from Athletic’s Matt Schneider. “I think at that point we just had to do it, I had to do my job and communicate and understand that a trade could be possible.”
After months of negotiations between the Jets and Packers, they reached an agreement Monday, sending the 40-year-old four-time MVP to the Jets in exchange for a bounty of draft picks.
Aaron Rodgers reacts after a win against the Los Angeles Rams.
AP Photo/Morry Gash
When asked Wednesday about Gutekunst’s comments, Rodgers said he never received FaceTime calls from the Packers.
“I’ll tell people who know me: I’m lucky to live in a beautiful home. The only downside is that I have very limited cell service,” Rodgers said. “So if you want to reach me, I have to see your face. You have to FaceTime me.”
FaceTime uses Wi-Fi and cellular service, but it will connect to Wi-Fi first.
“So the only response to the communication is that there are records on your phone of who called you, when, FaceTime. And there was no specific FaceTime of any of those numbers that you were looking at.”
—Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) April 26, 2023
Despite the somewhat cool relationship with Gutekunst, Rodgers posted a lengthy Instagram on Tuesday, thanking various members of the Packers organization.
