woodbuck27
08-26-2006, 12:55 AM
Rodgers getting caught up
Unorthodox style has evolved
By LORI NICKEL
lnickel@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 24, 2006
Green Bay - One look at Aaron Rodgers last summer and it was obvious he had a very different delivery.
Taking the snap and dropping back, Rodgers propped the football on an invisible shelf next to his right ear lobe before he drew back and threw a pass. He was taught that technique in college because it leads to a swift release, but critics called his style mechanical. The shelf turned off some National Football League scouts.
Then training camp ended, Brett Favre took over for the 15th straight season for the Packers and Rodgers' big issue was all but forgotten.
A year later, in his second training camp, Rodgers lined up next to Favre on Thursday in a passing drill. As they dropped back in unison and threw downfield to receivers, Rodgers appeared to hold the ball somewhat higher than Favre but the shelf wasn't obvious. In fact, it appeared to be gone.
"When he got here, I saw it, too, but I don't notice it now," receiver Robert Ferguson said. "I definitely saw it when he first came here. I don't know if he worked on it or what."
He didn't, it turns out, which might have been the best thing for him.
In high school, Rodgers held the ball at chest level, which is pretty standard. But then he went to the University of California, where coach Jeff Tedford tells his quarterbacks to hold the ball up high because it leads to an efficient, fast delivery.
"It's a shorter arc angle to the release point," Rodgers explained. "The key to playing quarterback, and throwing the ball, is if you're quick to the release point. Some guys have (a release) real drawn out, some guys hold the ball real low so it takes a little bit longer to the release point.
"You want to get it as quick as possible to the release point, so the defense has less chance to react on the throw."
For two years under Tedford, Rodgers got used to throwing from the higher release point and, to his surprise, some wondered if it hurt his throwing ability.
"They're breaking that down in the draft, saying that's one of my biggest flaws," Rodgers said. "I'm saying it's one of my biggest strengths, you know, to get the ball out quick."
Projected by some analysts as a potential No. 1 draft pick, the Packers caught Rodgers at the 24th spot in the first round.
Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy, the offensive coordinator for San Francisco a year ago, studied Rodgers' release closely at California.
"It was high. It was ear level," he said.
McCarthy isn't sold on holding the ball too high, but he thinks a high carriage had its pluses.
"I disagree with the people that said it was a deterrent," he said.
When Rodgers arrived in Green Bay last year, then-coach coach Mike Sherman and his staff didn't ask him to work on his throwing style.
"Zero," Rodgers said. "And I even said, 'You guys want to talk about my release? I'd like to keep it the way it is.' And they said 'No, you throw how you throw. We're going to coach every other area there is in quarterbacking, but the way you throw the ball is the way you throw the ball.' "
Instead of turning the shelf into some kind of mental stigma for Rodgers, former offensive coordinator Tom Rossley ignored the issue, predicting that the ball would drop down naturally if they didn't emphasize it.
Sure enough, that seems to be what has happened.
In off-season work called quarterback school with the Packers, Rodgers had nearly perfect attendance and the shelf wasn't the focus.
"Last two years, I haven't been working on Tedford's mechanics, so I think the ball has come to a more of a natural position," Rodgers said. "I don't know (if) it's here or here or here (he demonstrates), but wherever it is, it just feels natural. So I'm just throwing."
While McCarthy explained his fundamental beliefs about quarterbacking to Rodgers in the off-season, he didn't feel the need to teach a first-round pick how to throw. That's because what has remained intact throughout his time with the Packers is Rodgers' release. It's still very fast. Ferguson described it as a baseball throw with a flick of the wrist.
"He gets the ball out as quick as anybody I've ever worked with," McCarthy said.
Rodgers said he thought his combination of a strong arm, fundamentally sound release and a snap in his wrist led to a very catchable ball.
"I feel there are two kinds of throws. The more rotation you have on the ball, the easier it is to catch," he said. "Some guys throw the ball really hard, but it's more of a knuckleball, where you can almost count the (rotations). I think I throw a more catchable ball because I get a lot of wrist flick on it."
In two exhibition games, Rodgers has completed 12 of 17 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. By and large he has been lauded for his improvement. He especially tackled his footwork in the off-season.
Rodgers seems eager to shed the negative labels that saddled him at first. Before the 2005 draft, the Journal Sentinel asked scouts about Rodgers and the Tedford system, because the coach also taught Akili Smith, Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller (at California and Oregon).
This is what was reported: As much respect as NFL people have for Tedford's ability to develop winning quarterbacks on Saturdays, they have an equal degree of disdain for how his protégés have fared on Sundays.
"They all throw the ball the same way," a personnel director for an AFC team said. "What have those guys done? Nothing."
Said a scout: "They're all so mechanical, so robotic. They're so well-schooled. I think Rodgers is in that same mold."
Rodgers defends Tedford's teaching style to this day.
"I was called mechanical because they hadn't seen anything so sound, I believe, because there really wasn't any wasted motion in my throwing," he said.
"My biggest problem with the whole thing was the negative reflection of Coach Tedford. The first question I got in Green Bay was, 'You're just a Tedford quarterback, why should anybody take a chance on you? Why are you going to be different than Joey and Kyle and all these guys?' My first thing was, hey, those are my boys.
"And No. 2, don't put me against those guys, put me against Alex Smith and Jason Campbell and Kyle Orton, who were in my draft class."
From the Aug. 25, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
PACKERS FUTURE !!
Unorthodox style has evolved
By LORI NICKEL
lnickel@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 24, 2006
Green Bay - One look at Aaron Rodgers last summer and it was obvious he had a very different delivery.
Taking the snap and dropping back, Rodgers propped the football on an invisible shelf next to his right ear lobe before he drew back and threw a pass. He was taught that technique in college because it leads to a swift release, but critics called his style mechanical. The shelf turned off some National Football League scouts.
Then training camp ended, Brett Favre took over for the 15th straight season for the Packers and Rodgers' big issue was all but forgotten.
A year later, in his second training camp, Rodgers lined up next to Favre on Thursday in a passing drill. As they dropped back in unison and threw downfield to receivers, Rodgers appeared to hold the ball somewhat higher than Favre but the shelf wasn't obvious. In fact, it appeared to be gone.
"When he got here, I saw it, too, but I don't notice it now," receiver Robert Ferguson said. "I definitely saw it when he first came here. I don't know if he worked on it or what."
He didn't, it turns out, which might have been the best thing for him.
In high school, Rodgers held the ball at chest level, which is pretty standard. But then he went to the University of California, where coach Jeff Tedford tells his quarterbacks to hold the ball up high because it leads to an efficient, fast delivery.
"It's a shorter arc angle to the release point," Rodgers explained. "The key to playing quarterback, and throwing the ball, is if you're quick to the release point. Some guys have (a release) real drawn out, some guys hold the ball real low so it takes a little bit longer to the release point.
"You want to get it as quick as possible to the release point, so the defense has less chance to react on the throw."
For two years under Tedford, Rodgers got used to throwing from the higher release point and, to his surprise, some wondered if it hurt his throwing ability.
"They're breaking that down in the draft, saying that's one of my biggest flaws," Rodgers said. "I'm saying it's one of my biggest strengths, you know, to get the ball out quick."
Projected by some analysts as a potential No. 1 draft pick, the Packers caught Rodgers at the 24th spot in the first round.
Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy, the offensive coordinator for San Francisco a year ago, studied Rodgers' release closely at California.
"It was high. It was ear level," he said.
McCarthy isn't sold on holding the ball too high, but he thinks a high carriage had its pluses.
"I disagree with the people that said it was a deterrent," he said.
When Rodgers arrived in Green Bay last year, then-coach coach Mike Sherman and his staff didn't ask him to work on his throwing style.
"Zero," Rodgers said. "And I even said, 'You guys want to talk about my release? I'd like to keep it the way it is.' And they said 'No, you throw how you throw. We're going to coach every other area there is in quarterbacking, but the way you throw the ball is the way you throw the ball.' "
Instead of turning the shelf into some kind of mental stigma for Rodgers, former offensive coordinator Tom Rossley ignored the issue, predicting that the ball would drop down naturally if they didn't emphasize it.
Sure enough, that seems to be what has happened.
In off-season work called quarterback school with the Packers, Rodgers had nearly perfect attendance and the shelf wasn't the focus.
"Last two years, I haven't been working on Tedford's mechanics, so I think the ball has come to a more of a natural position," Rodgers said. "I don't know (if) it's here or here or here (he demonstrates), but wherever it is, it just feels natural. So I'm just throwing."
While McCarthy explained his fundamental beliefs about quarterbacking to Rodgers in the off-season, he didn't feel the need to teach a first-round pick how to throw. That's because what has remained intact throughout his time with the Packers is Rodgers' release. It's still very fast. Ferguson described it as a baseball throw with a flick of the wrist.
"He gets the ball out as quick as anybody I've ever worked with," McCarthy said.
Rodgers said he thought his combination of a strong arm, fundamentally sound release and a snap in his wrist led to a very catchable ball.
"I feel there are two kinds of throws. The more rotation you have on the ball, the easier it is to catch," he said. "Some guys throw the ball really hard, but it's more of a knuckleball, where you can almost count the (rotations). I think I throw a more catchable ball because I get a lot of wrist flick on it."
In two exhibition games, Rodgers has completed 12 of 17 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. By and large he has been lauded for his improvement. He especially tackled his footwork in the off-season.
Rodgers seems eager to shed the negative labels that saddled him at first. Before the 2005 draft, the Journal Sentinel asked scouts about Rodgers and the Tedford system, because the coach also taught Akili Smith, Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller (at California and Oregon).
This is what was reported: As much respect as NFL people have for Tedford's ability to develop winning quarterbacks on Saturdays, they have an equal degree of disdain for how his protégés have fared on Sundays.
"They all throw the ball the same way," a personnel director for an AFC team said. "What have those guys done? Nothing."
Said a scout: "They're all so mechanical, so robotic. They're so well-schooled. I think Rodgers is in that same mold."
Rodgers defends Tedford's teaching style to this day.
"I was called mechanical because they hadn't seen anything so sound, I believe, because there really wasn't any wasted motion in my throwing," he said.
"My biggest problem with the whole thing was the negative reflection of Coach Tedford. The first question I got in Green Bay was, 'You're just a Tedford quarterback, why should anybody take a chance on you? Why are you going to be different than Joey and Kyle and all these guys?' My first thing was, hey, those are my boys.
"And No. 2, don't put me against those guys, put me against Alex Smith and Jason Campbell and Kyle Orton, who were in my draft class."
From the Aug. 25, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
PACKERS FUTURE !!