Joe Klecko got his highly anticipated Hall of Fame nod on Thursday night.
But the former Jets’ all-time great defensive lineman and former Defensive Player of the Year had some comments about the present-day situation of his beloved Gang Green. In a Q&A with The Post, Klecko told Steve Serby that he is wary of Aaron Rodgers potentially playing for the Jets.
“Would you like to see Aaron Rodgers play for the Jets?” asked Serby.
“No I wouldn’t. I don’t see a guy like Rodgers fitting in with that mentality of them kids and everything like that,” Klecko responded. “I could be wrong. He’s a tremendous quarterback; he’s a smart guy. I just think he could be more of a detriment, I really do.”
With a tremendous amount of buzz about the Jets going after Rodgers and the seemingly undisputed support of this action by fans and players, an alternate perspective from someone so close to the organization is notable.
“He has that condescending attitude about ‘Why did you give up the route? Don’t stop’,” Klecko specified, saying Rodgers wouldn’t mesh well with the Jets’ young talent. “You could see it on his face on the field how he gets upset with players. Is he a great player? Absolutely. I just don’t see him fitting. It takes a certain personality really to make things work.”
Klecko then compared Rodgers to the recently-retired Tom Brady, saying, ‘it takes a certain personality really to make things work.’
“When [Tom Brady] went to Tampa Bay, he called everybody the night before and told ‘em why you could be great … he led these guys to believe in themselves, and they did,” Klecko said. “When things don’t go right, I can’t see Aaron Rodgers being a guy that gives a s–t. I just can’t see it.”
Despite not having the greatest faith that Rodgers is the guy to get it done in New York, he did acknowledge his talent but believes he could cause further problems.
To Klecko’s point, Rodgers had his fair share of throwing teammates under the bus this past season. The Packers finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019.