Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has some humongous shoes to fill as Aaron Rodgers’ direct successor. But the Packers have enjoyed 30 years of steady QB play between Brett Favre and Rodgers. Much like his predecessor before him, the onus is now on Love to pick up where a legend left off.
Love has spoken previously about how valuable it was for him to apprentice behind Rodgers. He surely learned a great deal from observing Rodgers’ study, practice, and game-day habits. Yet, per a recent report from Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons, Rodgers isn’t the only veteran QB resource that Love’s tapped into.
Jordan Love Links With Peyton Manning
Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning spent some time at Packers training camp recently for a project he’s working on. During his visit, he was able to spend time with and impart some wisdom to Love.
“(Manning) had a lot of really good gems just in terms of taking notes, how you watch film,” Love said, via Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com. “When you’re at home by yourself, are you writing down questions? Things that you can come back, ask your coaches later. How are you asking to be coached? Are you a guy who wants to be coached really hard? Are you a guy who kind of just wants to be able to do your own thing? It all really matters.”
Love revealed that Manning told him he liked to be coached hard during his playing career. It sounds like Manning wanted his coaches to hone in on even the minutest of mistakes.
There are several reasons Manning is one of the most prolific signal-callers of all time, and a near-neurotic work ethic is probably the least surprising among them.
The two signal-callers discussed several other hot-button topics related to quarterbacking as well. One that Love elaborated on included the importance of leadership and camaraderie in the locker room.
“But I was just asking kind of how that was with him. He talked about that to the team in the team meeting room as well, just saying that’s one of the biggest things he felt made the Colts so good when he played with them was just how well they communicated with each other and how well they bonded as a team,” Love said.
Love has a ways to go to even be within shouting distance of the same rarefied air where players like Manning and Rodgers reside. Love made his first career start last year and has all of three career touchdown passes under his belt. Manning, for comparison, racked up 265 career starts and threw 539 career touchdown passes.
The jury’s still out on Love, but it bodes well for Green Bay that he has the wherewithal to pick a legend’s brain when the opportunity presents itself.
