FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — While saying he’s “not a savior of any kind,” Aaron Rodgers nevertheless said he was lured to the New York Jets by the opportunity to end the franchise’s 54-year Super Bowl drought and add to his NFL legacy.
Rodgers, introduced Wednesday at the packed news conference at the team facility, said he noticed only one Lombardi Trophy in the team’s lobby.
“It looks lonely,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers declined to commit to the Jets for more than one year, saying he will take it season by season at this stage of his career. He said the length of his commitment never came up in discussions with the team.
Rodgers said that he will be at the facility for the “foreseeable future” and that he expects to practice Thursday. In recent years, he didn’t participate in voluntary workouts with the Green Bay Packers.
Rodgers thanked the Packers for 18 seasons. He will wear No. 8 (his old college number) instead of his usual No. 12. Hall of Famer and franchise icon Joe Namath gave his blessing to Rodgers to wear the number, but he declined.
“No. 12 is Broadway Joe,” Rodgers said.