We are only a few weeks removed from yet another playoff letdown which has left fans in need of some Packers offseason treatment. Nonetheless, as we head into a long summer stretch without NFL football, Aaron Rodgers is already playing cryptic social media games. On Monday, he released a long Instagram post wherein he reminisced on the past year and posted a slew of photos from the 2021 Green Bay Packer’s season. One of which featured Davante Adams and Randall Cobb standing just far enough apart for fans and media members to question whether Rodgers was sending a message about his looming career choices. Rodgers has said that he will not keep people waiting on his decision about whether he will return to Green Bay for the upcoming season, but he hasn’t said anything about not creating some chaos in the meantime.
It Takes Two to Tango
Personally, I’m exhausted with the whole “will he, won’t he?” dance that fans have had to suffer through with Rodgers for the past two off-seasons. This and the seemingly disastrous salary cap situation the Packer’s will soon be in, has left fans with nothing but angst and dangerously high cortisol levels as we approach April’s draft.
So what can be done on the part of fans to cope with all the confusion? Well, nothing–but therein lies the beauty of the whole situation.
Because the drama of the offseason is out of our control, it may be best to let the cards fall where they may. Rodgers will do what he does and the Packer’s will make decisions that they feel create the best opportunity to win. Will some tough business decisions need to be made? Of course. Will this result in some beloved players leaving Titletown? Almost certainly. But what can we, as fans, do about this? Absolutely nothing.
This is why I haven’t engaged myself with the media farce of predictive offseason speculation. I’m simply too tired. The highs and lows of the past three seasons have taken too much from me, and I need some time to fully digest the heartbreak of the recent playoff letdown.
That is not to say I won’t have opinions about what the Packer’s ought to do as we approach next season, or hurt feelings when my expectations aren’t met. But, that is to say I won’t be hanging on every last word or post or tweet that Rodgers (or any Packer–I’m looking at you Z) sends into the ether this offseason. I choose peace, tranquility, and my own mental wellbeing first. This is the treatment I have prescribed to myself after the loss to the 49ers, and it is my suggestion that all Packer fans follow suit.
We need time to recover, time to get clear on our thinking, and time to re-light the fire that we all feel when Packer’s football is back in full swing in the Fall. It was a drama-filled season that at some points felt like we were headed for a story-book ending, and at others, a Shakespearean tragedy.
Therefore, perhaps we should all commit to a state of emotional neutrality, at least until we have a better picture of what the 2022 Packers will actually be.