Aaron Rodgers sought out advice from a fellow professional athlete who shares a similar career trajectory as him.
The former Green Bay Packers quarterback made the stunning decision to leave Wisconsin for New York City this spring, asking for and receiving a trade to the Jets.
Rodgers, who will more than likely be remembered for the Super Bowl title and MVP awards he brought to Lambeau Field, still has the chance to make some memories of his own with the team from Florham Park, New Jersey.
One person uniquely positioned to offer advice to the quarterback is a fellow superstar in their sport: Dallas Stars center Joe Pavelski.
At a press conference, Rodgers said he spoke to the hockey star at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.
Aaron Rodgers asked fellow elder athletes for advice in transitioning to a new team
In particular, he asked Dallas Stars leader Joe Pavelski about moving from one team – where he played a majority of his career – to another and how to find success there
‘Yeah, I’ve talked to a lot of friends in actually multiple sports who’ve played long careers in certain places,’ Rodgers said.
‘I just got to spend time with my buddy Joe Pavelski who played with the [San Jose] Sharks for so long and now he’s on the [Dallas] Stars.
‘And there’s a lot of guys like that up at Tahoe. So there’s a lot of those conversations because a lot of them have been long time members of a certain franchise and then you move on.’
Much like Rodgers, the 39-year-old Pavelski will mostly be remembered for his career in San Jose – where he was drafted in 2003 and spent four seasons as the captain.
Pavelski then went on to have one of the greatest careers of any American in the NHL – putting up just over 1,000 points across 1,250 games.
He’s currently eleventh all-time for the most points scored by an American in the league and is second among active players behind Patrick Kane. Pavelski is also third all-time for points in Sharks history, second in goals all-time, and fourth in assists.
Pavelski may have scored 761 of the 1,001 points in his career at San Jose, but he’s seen something of a revival in his move to Dallas.
In his first year with the Stars in the COVID-19 impacted 2019-20 season, Pavelski helped lead Dallas to the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost to Tampa Bay in six games.
Pavelski, who captained the San Jose Sharks, has seen a career resurgence in Dallas – scoring 240 points in 287 games and reaching a Stanley Cup Final in his first season with them
Rodgers hopes to see similar success with the Jets – who hope to get back into the playoffs
As of now, Pavelski has 240 points in a Stars uniform in just 287 games played. He’s also been named an alternate captain with the team – a sign of the leadership he brings.
Rodgers will hope that he can experience a similar transition from one team to another as Pavelski had.
He moves to a Jets team in transition – a team that finished 7-10 last season and often felt like it was one piece short of a playoff run.
The Jets now have that piece – as they replace struggling quarterback Zach Wilson with a bonafide starter in Rodgers.
New York has the seventh-best odds of winning the Super Bowl, just ahead of Baltimore and right behind Dallas.
