Aaron Rodgers isn't afraid to admit it. The Green Bay Packers quarterback calls himself "obsessively competitive," a trait that comes out at Lambeau Field, during wiffle ball games in the backyard and at card games in the locker room.
Rodgers clearly still burns about how the Packers' season ended, a 15-1 record followed by a thumping by the New York Giants in the divisional playoffs.
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In a interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Rodgers talks about his drive and moving on from last season's disappointment.
On what drives him now that he has a ring and a league MVP:
"Winning more Super Bowls. That's the No. 1 thing. Especially after you win one and you go 15-1 in the regular season and then you lose in the first round, you deal with that disappointment. I think you just appreciate that experience you went through in the 2010-'11 season. Just wanting to win more championships. That's what you get remembered for as a team and individually."
On how long it took him to get over the Giants loss:
"It took a few days. I left Green Bay that week, I think Thursday. So once I got back to San Diego and got a chance to relax, that's when you start settling into the off-season. It's frustrating still. It's tough to watch the playoffs, but you learn to get over that pretty quickly."
On if getting passed over in the 2005 draft still sticks with him:
"Yeah, you have to. That stuff, I think it goes from a motivator to a great learning experience. At the time, immediately after, it's a motivator. I got picked over, in my thoughts, I got picked over and I have a lot to prove. But then you look back on it a few years later and you realize it was a strong character builder and I learned a lot through that, and I'm glad I went through it."
On what he does to fill his competitive need off the field:
"I love to watch "Jeopardy," although that's not very mindless. TV is a good escape. I like to play the guitar and I like to play golf. Those are two things that I'm competitive about. I want to be a better guitar player. I want to be a better golfer. So I have to keep that competitive fire going and I can kind of direct it in a different spot. Those two things, I really want to be good at them. ... I can play a number of songs (on the guitar). I like a lot of Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Ray LaMontagne. But I also play a lot of gospel songs and country songs."
