Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is willing to put the past behind him in relation to the hit administered by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr that broke his collarbone.
“I mean, I think it’s time to move on for everybody,” the 34-year-old Rodgers told Peter King in the debut of Football Morning in America.
Rodgers told television host Conan O’Brien last year that cameras missed Barr giving him the finger and another derogatory gesture while the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player was on the ground during that Oct. 15 game.
Barr, however, told a significantly different story.
“After the play I go back to the huddle, don’t even look or say a word to him,” the 26-year-old Barr wrote on Twitter in October. “Once he gets up I’m waiting for the play call, and hear someone shouting all kinds of profanities. I look over and it’s (Rodgers) calling me all kinds of names, (expletive) you this, (expletive) you that as he’s walking off the field.
“So naturally I responded. I don’t care if you Aaron Rodgers or Mr. Rogers, if you say something like that you’re gonna get a response from me.”
Rodgers was sidelined for eight weeks following the hit from Barr. He returned for one game and then was placed on injured reserve.
A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Rodgers passed for 1,675 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions over seven games in 2017, his 13th season in the NFL.
Barr has started all 58 games he has played and has 283 tackles, 10.5 sacks and an interception during his time with the Vikings. He had one sack and 75 tackles in 2017.
The two won’t have long to wait to meet on the football field. The Vikings will visit the Packers in an NFC North showdown in Week 2.
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