Packers quarterback Jordan Love talks relationship with Aaron Rodgers
Jordan Love spent three years as Aaron Rodgers’ backup. This weekend, the two play against each other when the Steelers host the Packers.
Yes, Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers did exchange jerseys after the Green Bay Packers‘ 35-25 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 26, a game in which Love threw for three touchdowns and outshined his mentor.
Love confirmed as much Oct. 28 during a visit on the “Up and Adams Show” with FanDuelTV sports host Kay Adams.
“He said he’d send it in the locker room,” Love said of his postgame exchange with Rodgers. “It’s a really cool moment, definitely something that will be hanging on my wall. I’m grateful for that moment between us.”
Here were a couple of other takeaways from Love’s interview with Adams:
Where did Jordan Love’s nickname ‘Pookie’ come from?
Steam has been gathering around the nickname “Pookie” for Love in social-media circles. He said he doesn’t know where it came from, and coach Matt LaFleur definitely just calls the quarterback “Jordan.”
“It’s been one of those things that’s been in the comments everywhere,” Love said. “Other teams call me Pookie and it’s just kind of taken over.”
Love also discussed the suddenly viral school photo of him from 2012, donning a shirt that says, “Come get some.” The Packers shared the visual after the win.
“Does anybody think that kid’s gonna be an NFL quarterback, right there?” Love asked rhetorically.
How will Jordan Love and wife Ronika dress for Halloween this year?
Love and wife Ronika have an affinity for coordinated costumes, dressing for events as vampires, Marlon and Shawn Wayans’ characters in the movie “White Chicks” and channeling a disco theme.
You’d think that makes Halloween their time to shine, but Love said the couple was taking this Halloween off.
“We’ll be serving candy at the front door,” he said.
Did Jordan Love know he had completed 20 passes in a row during the Steelers win?
Love matched Brett Favre’s franchise record of 20 consecutive completions during the win over the Steelers, and unsurprisingly, he confessed to not being aware of the streak as it continued.
“I told Matt (LaFleur), I wished somebody would have told me, I wouldn’t have dirted (thrown away) the one I did to Tuck (Tucker Kraft) and tried to keep that thing going,” Love said.
Love said he learned about the hot stretch after the game was over.
With 5:41 to go in the fourth quarter, on second-and-6 inside the 10-yard line, Love sensed pressure and threw well short of Kraft to kill the play. The stretch had begun late in the second quarter and doesn’t even include a successful two-point conversion pass to Romeo Doubs.
Jordan Love on the floated passes to Chrstian Watson and Tucker Kraft
Two of the bigger plays of the night were lofted balls that fell into the arms of Kraft and Christian Watson, plays that yielded 59 and 33 yards, respectively, and both on touchdown drives.
“Getting Christian back, he’s our deep-play guy,” Love said. “I felt like I was getting a little more pressure than was there, so I started scrambling right. I really don’t know if I needed to, and just kept my eyes down the middle. … I tried to give him a ball that he’d be able to come back to.”
Watson secured the ball as it landed right over the head of a Pittsburgh defender. That was after Kraft had separated himself from his man to haul in a fluttering ball.
“That’s a play that brings energy to the entire team,” Love said. “Third-and-5, inside own 30, I’m getting hit and I’m just kind of throwing a pass up. He’s got man coverage and makes a play coming back to the ball. Tuck do what Tuck’s been doing all season, and that’s to go get that YAC (yards after catch).”
In a nod to the significant presence of Packers fans at Acrisure Stadium, Love said he was looking up at the Jumbotron after getting sent to the turf, unsure how the play had developed. But since the crowd was cheering, he figured Kraft either “caught it, or it’s an interception; I didn’t know what happened.”
“He always seems to be, week after week, making these big plays,” Love said.
Jordan Love on facing off with former teammate and mentor Aaron Rodgers
Adams asked Love what he anticipated coming into the showdown.
“You know that’s going to be the most talked-about game of the week, of A-Rod playing the Packers for the first time,” Love said. “Obviously, us going against each other, me being behind him for three years and learning, you know what the week entails.
“The coolest part was when the game happened, being out there on the field, looking across, seeing him on the other side and taking it all in. Being grateful to be out there on the field and thinking back on all the memories we had together, grateful for our time together and being able to learn. …
“I wouldn’t be the player I am without having that time behind him and learning and watching him play, so I’m grateful.”
Love said he didn’t get a chance to chat with Rodgers before the game, but he did look across the field to try to catch Rodgers’ eye during the national anthem.