quote:Rodgers avoids talking about his predecessor the way he avoids interceptions, but Harrell – just as Matt Flynn did before him – swears by Rodgers’ mentoring and says that, for whatever reason, Rodgers has been his biggest supporter this offseason as he readies himself to be the No. 2 quarterback following Flynn’s free-agent departure.
“Aaron’s always been great to us, no matter where you are on the depth chart,” Harrell said during a break in the team’s three-day mandatory minicamp. “When we bring new guys in, when Nick (Hill) was here and now with (seventh-round pick) B.J. (Coleman), no matter who it is, Aaron is always very helpful. And that doesn’t change no matter where you are on the depth chart.
“Aaron's been helpful from Day 1, whether it's me or Matt or one of the new guys in here. He always tries to help us. I don't know why that is, but I feel like he's pretty secure in his position so he does everything he can to help everyone else. From Day 1, he's been a huge part of my development and he continues to be."
In fairness to Favre, neither Flynn (a 2008 seventh-round pick who was a rookie during Rodgers’ first year as the starter) nor Harrell (an undrafted free agent who spent a wasted year in the Canadian Football League before the Packers picked him up prior to the 2010 season) is a former first-round pick who was in the conversation to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft the way Rodgers was seven years ago. So it’s easier for the 28-year-old reigning NFL MVP to be so magnanimous, given that he knows the 27-year-old Harrell isn’t about to take his job.
That said, Rodgers was the same way with 2008 second-round pick Brian Brohm, whom some NFL analysts predicted would wrest the starting job away from Rodgers at some point.
“Aaron's an excellent mentor. He spends a lot of time in the meetings just doing the little things,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “I feel very good about the opportunity for growth in that room.”
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