Aaron Rodgers seems to really be enjoying his move to New York.
The 39-year-old was traded to the Jets in April after spending the first 18 years of his storied NFL career on the Packers. He went from a franchise in Green Bay that was consistently in the playoff hunt to one that plays its games near New York City and hasn't been to the postseason in over a decade.
And four months into his new experience, Rodgers has compared being a member of the Jets to waking up inside of a "beautiful dream."
"I told a friend this has felt like waking up inside of a dream, this whole experience. A beautiful dream," Rodgers told reporters on Thursday, according to The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt. "So many times you have a great dream and you wake up and you think, 'I just want to get back into that.' But I can’t quite get back into the dream. I’ve woken up inside of that dream and it’s been really, really special. There’s a lot of times — I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — where I just look around and say, 'This is my life now. How cool is this?'
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"It happens in the locker room, it happens walking out and it's the fresh air and the sun setting. It’s just [thinking] what an awesome day it was because of whatever it was, a conversation I had with Mekhi [Becton], getting to see Billy Turner and catch up with him, a play that happened that really was fun that we talked about and wanted to happen … or we’re driving to the city and you hit that spot before you go in the tunnel and you’re looking across to the city going, 'How cool is my life now?' I just try to keep that perspective every day here and it’s been easy because one thing has happened almost every single day that just reminds me I’m in the right place, I’m where I’m supposed to be and I’m really just loving what this opportunity has given me.
"Every day I’m thinking — and I won’t say it out loud — but I’ll sit back with the guys in the room, take a second sometimes and it's, 'How cool is this?'"
Those words from the four-time NFL MVP will be music to the ears of Jets fans, as the last decade-plus has been more like a nightmare for the franchise.
Since making consecutive AFC title games in 2009 and 2010, the Jets have recorded just one winning season with zero trips to the playoffs. New York has cycled through several quarterbacks, from Mark Sanchez to Zach Wilson, and head coaches, from Rex Ryan to Adam Gase, to no avail.
But the addition of Rodgers has suddenly changed those nightmares to dreams of a Super Bowl.
Rodgers and Co. can start turning those dreams into reality when the Jets open their season against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football in Week 1.
