This Sunday, the Green Bay Packers will take on the Minnesota Vikings in a battle for the early lead in the NFC North division. The Vikings currently lead the division with a 3-0 record while the Packers are 2-1. It will also mark the first time that former Packers running back Aaron Jones returns to Lambeau Field as a visiting player.
Earlier this year, the Packers released Jones hours after they announced that they had agreed to a four-year $48 million contract with free agent running back Josh Jacobs. While they had hoped to keep Jones as well, he did not want to take (yet another) pay cut in order to remain with the franchise.
Not long after his release, Jones was signed by the Vikings.
Fans Still Hold Former Green Bay Packers Running Back Aaron Jones in High Esteem
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Typically, when a player signs with a rival team, the fans of his former team take it as an act of betrayal. Such was the case when embattled Packers quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre signed with the Vikings himself.
But this was not the case for Jones. While he undoubtedly signed with the Vikings for the opportunity to play the Packers twice a year (and because he had a clear shot at the starting running back job), Green Bay’s fans voiced their undying support and love for their former running back (except when he plays the Packers).
This is a testament the kind of person Jones was and continues to be. He frequently was the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. His work for the community in Green Bay and beyond made him so much more than just a player on the field: it made him a legend.
And while there is some strange anticipation in the minds of fans, a mixture of both excitement and dread, there is no doubt that when Jones comes out of the tunnel on Sunday, it will be a sort of homecoming for both him and the fans.
Former Green Bay Packers Aaron Jones Shared Amazing Stories About Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams
On Wednesday morning, Jones released a letter that he wrote to and for Packers fans on the Players Tribune website. In it, he described how much his seven seasons in Green Bay meant to him and how much love he still has for the organization and its fanbase.
He also shared a couple of incredible stories about how former Packers stars Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers helped him believe in himself as a rookie in 2017.
Adams, Jones wrote, walked up to him during his first training camp to tell him that the soon-to-be Pro Bowl wide receiver believed the young rookie would be the best of the team’s young running backs:
“I remember this one moment early on in camp my rookie season. The Packers had drafted three running backs in 2017, and the receivers started taking “bets” on which of us was going to come out on top. Obviously a lot of guys had Jamaal since he was drafted the highest.
“Then one day in camp, Davante walks up to me. He’s the No. 1 receiver, right? Fourth year and about to make a Pro Bowl. He’s the dude in that room — and he comes over to me on the sideline, I don’t even know why, and he says, ‘I got you as my dog in this race.’ I can’t even tell you what that did for me, honestly. It was like, OK, Davante Adams believes in me?? It meant a lot.”
Jones did end up playing in 12 games (four starts) for the Packers that season, racking up 448 yards and four touchdowns on the ground while averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
One his biggest supporters that year was the then two-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. Jones recalled one game when the future Hall of Famer demanded that the young rookie be put into the game:
“I’ll never forget there was this one drive, later in the season — and out of nowhere, A-Rod calls timeout, turns to the sideline and yells: ‘I WANT 33 IN THE GAME!!! I WANT 33 IN THE GAME!!! 33!!! NOW!!!’
“I’m standing there, I’m looking down at my jersey … and suddenly I’m like, Oh wait. I’m 33. That’s ME. I don’t even remember what the play was, or what happened on it, but I just know how good that felt. It was this reminder that I was there for a reason, you know what I mean? One of the best QBs who’s ever lived is actually seeing something in me.”
These are just two of the incredible stories about his time with the Packers that Jones wrote about in his letter. When reading it, one cannot help but feel the love he still has for the organization.
Jones ended his letter with, “No G on the helmet Sunday, always one in my heart.”
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