Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers doesn't like it when folks call him overly sensitive. But he's certainly not shy about pointing out injustices when he thinks they have occurred.
It's safe to say Rodgers has his former coach Jeff Tedford's back. The University of California fired Tedford on Tuesday after 11 seasons at the school, where Tedford had posted an 82-57 record. The Cal was just 3-9 this season.
"It's a terrible decision, terrible decision. And I think it's disrespectful, too," Rodgers said on his weekly radio show on WAUK-AM. Rodgers was particularly unhappy that Tedford only was given one season to lead the program after the school completed a long-promised upgrade to its athletic facilities.
"Coach Tedford endured some pretty difficult situations down there while his competitors -- Oregon, Washington, Arizona schools -- continued to improve their facilities," he said. "Now, you get some facilities in there, you get a new stadium, you get an awesome new top deck over there that can overlook the (San Francisco) Bay, you get a 100-yard weight room. You have some competitive facilities now where you can really recruit some kids. And what do they do? They fire him. The winningest coach in history. It's just a shame."
Tedford became known as a quarterback guru in college in large part due to his work with future NFL quarterbacks. Rodgers played for Tedford in 2003 and 2004, throwing 43 touchdown passes to just eight interceptions. Other Tedford disciples like Kyle Boller, Trent Dilfer, Akili Smith, David Carr and Joey Harrington were drafted highly but had mixed results at best in the NFL.
Rodgers thinks Tedford could succeed at the pro level.
"I see Coach, regardless, landing on his feet," Rodgers said. "If he wants to challenge himself and take his game to the NFL level and look to eventually become a head coach, that's easily within his talent level. If he wants to stay in college, then any university that hires him is going to get a hell of a guy and a great coach."
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