After the Añejo tequila from the night before had worn off, Aaron Rodgers asked Packers assistant director of communications Tom Fanning for Jordan Love’s cell phone number.
Rodgers was driving home in Southern California from a workout the morning after the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Before he entered an area without service, he stopped on the side of the road to call his newest teammate.
Brett Favre infamously said his contract didn’t mandate mentoring Rodgers, the 2005 first-round pick who sat behind Favre for three years. For all Love knew, he’d get the same cold shoulder.
Love didn’t want to initiate the conversation with Rodgers that soon after the pick since he didn’t know how the starting quarterback felt. As the mayhem from draft night faded, Love got that answer.
“‘Look, man, I know it’s not the ideal situation right away for you, but I know what it’s like to be in your position,’” Rodgers recalled telling Love in a recent phone conversation with The Athletic. “‘We’re gonna have some fun together. I’m gonna help you out.’
“So just trying to alleviate any nerves he might have. I was in that position, so I knew it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t ask to be picked by the Packers.”
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst shocked the NFL by trading up in the first round to draft a quarterback with four years remaining on Rodgers’ contract. The Packers were fresh off an NFC Championship Game appearance, too.
Gutekunst not drafting a wide receiver to complement Davante Adams was highly scrutinized — the Vikings took Justin Jefferson at No. 22 and the 49ers took Brandon Aiyuk at No. 25 — but …
“We were looking to trade up to possibly get a receiver,” Gutekunst says now. “We were looking at doing a lot of different things in that draft. Didn’t come together.”
Instead, the Packers dealt a fourth-round pick to the Dolphins while moving from No. 30 to No. 26.
“The opportunity came to take Jordan, who was the last best guy on our board,” Gutekunst said. “It was like, ‘Am I really gonna pass up on a quarterback that we really think can play because of a fourth-round pick?’ Not knowing if he would be there four picks later, it didn’t make any sense.
“Sitting here today, sure glad we did it.”
Read more from this feature here.
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