In case you wondered if Aaron Rodgers is the type of person who holds grudges, the answer is yes.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback was the guest picker on ESPN College GameDay Saturday morning because the show was broadcast live from Lambeau Field ahead of the No. 5 LSU vs. Wisconsin matchup at 3:30 pm ET.
When the show got to the Texas-Notre Dame game portion of the gameday picks (this game is Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC), it was an easy decision for Rodgers.
Rodgers’ simple reasoning for picking the Longhorns? “Because Mack Brown isn’t there anymore.”
Sure, lots of people — media and fans alike — have had fun at Brown’s expense over the last six years. Texas’ downfall happened on his watch, he stepped down and Charlie Strong took over. But what kind of beef could Rodgers possibly have with Brown (who works for ESPN)?
During Rodgers’ junior year at Cal in 2004, the Bears were ranked ahead of Texas in the AP Poll, which was then part of the BCS ranking formula. Brown publicly lobbied for voters to give the Longhorns the final at-large bid to the Rose Bowl, which knocked Cal — the Pac-10 runner-up with USC going to the national championship game — out. The Golden Bears were hurt in their final regular season game by only beating Southern Miss 26-16, while Texas beat Texas A&M 26-13. Both Texas and Cal had one loss, but the Bears were ahead in the poll.
So Brown did some politicking to voters and nine of the 65 AP voters switched Texas ahead of Cal after their respective final games.
Rodgers was furious.
“I thought it was a little classless how Coach Brown was begging for votes after the [Texas A&M] game,” Rodgers said at the time. “I think a team’s record and the way you play should speak for itself, and you shouldn’t have to complain about the BCS system.”
The AP pulled out of the BCS after 2004 and the Harris Interactive poll–a combination of former players, officials and media–replaced it. And in future years, the final regular-season ballots of Harris voters and coaches became public.
So that’s why Rodgers is cool picking the Longhorns to win again. And as a sidenote, Cal and Texas actually play each other this season in Week 3.
0 comments:
Post a Comment