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After just four snaps as a member of the New York Jets, Aaron Rodgers’ career as Gang Green”s starting quarterback came to a brutal end virtually as soon as it began, as the 39-year-old suffered a torn Achilles before he even completed a pass.
The reaction around the NFL world is, obviously, one of shock. Rodgers-to-the-Jets has been perhaps *the* football story of the year, as the future Hall of Famer was not only expected to lead the notoriously moribund franchise to the playoffs for the first time in 13 years but potentially even a Super Bowl.
Everyone agreed. The defense was among the league’s best. The combination of Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook is maybe the best one-two tailback punch in the NFL. Garrett Wilson looks like he could be just as good as Justin Jefferson. It was all there for Rodgers and the Jets. Until it wasn’t.
On the Manningcast, Peyton and Eli Manning could hardly believe their eyes. Head coach Robert Saleh’s stunned face went viral. Jets coaches reportedly couldn’t sleep last night.
And yet, if you ask Jets fans — the real ones, the ones who have been through the dirt and the mud and the pain and the chaos — they always knew this would happen. If you asked a Jets fan if they were looking forward to the upcoming season prior to its nightmarish start on Monday night, the smart ones, the cautious ones, the realistic ones, would’ve told you that they’ll only allow themselves to get excited when the Jets are actually playing in the playoffs.
If there was ever a sports organization worthy of “I’ll believe it when I see it” levels of suspicion, it’s the New York Jets. That is, for as depressing as it may be, the reality of being a Jets fan: misery has become so conditioned it’s expected.
Do you know why the rest of the team was able to rally and actually beat the Bills despite watching Rodgers’ career potentially come to an abrupt and cruel end before their very eyes? Because, weirdly enough, they’re the Jets — they’re the only team in the league that could survive such a brutal injury to their star player because of how thoroughly ingrained disappointment is in the fabric of the organization.
Perhaps the only person who didn’t know was Rodgers himself. To his credit, he thought he could overcome the infamously cursed soul of the franchise with his own personal sheer force of spirit and personality. And before he actually took the field, it worked: the NFL world actually believed in the Jets this year.
But, similar to Thanos, when it comes to the New York Jets, destiny arrives all the same. Aaron Rodgers’ career with the time was over before it began — that was the case both last night and when they traded for him back in April, for even light cannot escape black holes.