According to a new Wall Street Journal article, Aaron Rodgers may want to leave the jokes to his doppelganger, the British comedian Tom Wrigglesworth.
The Journal’s Kevin Clark spoke to several of Rodgers' teammates and found that the star quarterback has a unique sense of humor. Many of his jokes are so hard to understand that Daryn Colledge, a Miami Dolphins offensive lineman and former Packers teammate, classified them as "Algebra 2."
Rodgers is especially enamored with embarrassing photos. The 31-year-old has developed a pregame tradition in which he photobombs the Green Bay captains. But that's not the only time Rodgers pranks teammates with uncomfortable images. Clark describes one of Rodgers' beloved prank routines:
During midweek meetings, in between breakdowns of offensive plays, Rodgers will award a “Man of the Week” award, in which he scours Google Images for less-than-flattering photos of teammates. He found one of tight end Andrew Quarless while he played at Penn State and blasted it on the video board in the meeting room. “He spends a lot of time on the Internet, trying to find anything,” Quarless said.
Rodgers is especially fond of a video of backup quarterback Matt Flynn riding his teammates' shoulders at a recent Pearl Jam concert. Flynn, however, refused to fall victim to Rodgers' humor.
"I'm out where people can see me, seeing my favorite band, trying to get the crowd pumped up. Why am I supposed to be embarrassed?" Flynn told Clark. “He’s trying to roast everyone and it doesn’t work on me. Anything people think I’m embarrassed by I am actually proud of.”
Another of Rodgers' favorite jokes is from the movie The Princess Bride. Rodgers admitted to Clark that he often quotes the character Vizzini when he asks, "Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Morons.”
The movie came out in 1987, which was before many of the Packers were born. But even if teammates don't get the jokes, 25-year-old offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga said, just seeing their quarterback at ease makes them more comfortable.
"He’s about as relaxed and calm in this locker room as you can get,” Bulaga told Clark. “His demeanor has an effect on us. There's never any panic in this locker room. Everything about him says, ‘Take a breather; we are going to be all right.'"
Whatever Rodgers is doing, he's doing it right. Rodgers led his team to an 8-0 record at Lanbeau Field in 2014 and a first-round bye. His 38-to-5 touchdown to interception ratio has many experts pegging Rodgers as this seasons MVP.
