SALEH’S FIRING ONLY REINFORCES THE OBVIOUS: RODGERS SHOULD HAVE RETIRED
It’s troubling to see an all-time great forcing a coach’s dismissal, all because Rodgers can’t play at 40 and always blames those in charge — leading to his 14th straight season without a Super Bowl
They met at a plush steakhouse in Malibu, across from retail villages owned by Stan Kroenke, who knows how to win a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams. Everybody was happy as Aaron Rodgers followed them into the restaurant. The owner of the New York Jets was Woody Johnson. He was with general manager Joe Douglas.
Last in the group was Robert Saleh. Either he would become the head coach who led Rodgers to his second championship or the latest shlub blamed for not winning a title, a 13-season plight for one of the best and rapidly declining quarterbacks of his time. Said Rodgers, flinging hogwash after he was terminated in Green Bay: “The more I thought about it and meditated about it and got back into workouts and felt really good about where I was at and still wanting to play, then I just thought it was the best option for me and the best opportunity.”
He should have retired.
That would have saved his Achilles tendon and relieved us of his rampant excrement. Someone else could have eaten his filet mignon.
Stunning how Saleh, the first Muslim coach in NFL history, needed only 19 months to face his ziggy. He leaves with a 2-3 record, caused primarily by Rodgers’ inefficiencies at 40. We sensed it weeks ago, when Rodgers pushed him away on the sideline when Saleh attempted to hug him. We should have known back in June, when he blew off a mandatory minicamp to vacation in Egypt. Those were Aaron’s hints and clues, the way he fired Mike McCarthy with the Packers. He lied about COVID-19. He doesn’t lie when he wants a coach fired. It’s not WHY Rodgers soured on Saleh, who had his problems in finishing 20-36. It’s HOW. It’s ALWAYS someone else’s fault when he was intercepted three times Sunday by the Minnesota Vikings.
“I thanked him for his hard work these past 3 1/2 years and wished him and his family well moving forward,” Johnson said. “This was not an easy decision, but we are not where we should be given our expectations. And I believe now is the best time for us to move in a different direction.”
So, will Rodgers hug defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who becomes the interim coach for the rest of the season? “He is a tough coach who has the respect of the coaches and players on this team,” Johnson said. “I believe he along with the coaches on this staff can get the most out of our talented team and attain goals we established this offseason.” Why would anyone believe Johnson and the Jets, who have the league’s longest postseason-less streak at 13 years and are tied for the longest in the four major North American sports? The AFC is filled with mediocre-to-lousy teams. The East is led by the erratic Buffalo Bills and weighed down by the Miami Dolphins — without Tua Tagovailoa — and New England Patriots.
Still, who do we like better for a wild-card playoff berth? Mike Tomlin? Jim Harbaugh? Sean Payton? Or Jeff Ulbrich, who will rely on offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who remains despite struggling with Rodgers, his longtime friend?
Just last week, Rodgers cited external muscle for chipping away at his relationship with Saleh. “I think there’s some driving force to try and put a wedge (from) outside the facility between Robert and I,” he said. “But, you know, we’re really good friends. We enjoy each other and we spend time (together). Almost every day, I’m in his office talking about things and talking about the energy of the team, the focus of the team, what we need to get done, how I can help him out, how he can help me out. So we’ve got a great relationship.”
Said Saleh, shrugging: “Aaron and I are fantastic. Love the guy.”
When a team dismisses a coach only five or fewer games into a season, which has happened only a dozen times since 2000, you wonder which leader might be bounced next by an owner. This purge was especially ruthless because it involves Rodgers, who no longer is a credible passer and turns 41 in early December. In Detroit, where Dan Campbell is popular, the Lions coach and his family had to move after his daughter’s classmate posted their street address.
“Dumb (expletive) trying to go for it,” the idiot wrote after the Lions blew a 17-point lead and lost the NFC championship game.
Who’s next? Only hours before, Saleh said: “There’s so much football to be played. There’s so many things that we can get better at, and there’s so many things that we can continue to build on, the things that we are doing well. So, I’m not panicked. Nobody in the building is panicked.”
He didn’t see a gray-bearded passer in the dark, holding a knife to his back. In the end, no one will blame this coach or any other coach for what will be a 14-year absence on Super Bowl Sunday. Aaron Rodgers is most responsible for his sad state. Good luck to the interim coach, who soon will be dissed.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.