Rodgers speaks

Aaron Rodgers said he hasn't spoken with Brett Favre since the veteran quarterback announced he was retiring, but Rodgers did speak with Wisconsin reporters this afternoon at Lambeau Field.

Rodgers has been living with his brother in San Diego during the offseason. Because the news broke about 6:30 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday, Rodgers was groggy from a late night of video gaming when people began calling.

Unshaven and with hair nearly to his shoulders, he still looks a little like he just woke up. But here are some of his thoughts:

* On how he found out: "Last year, I got about 15, 20 texts and Mike (McCarthy) called me. That was kind of what I expected. But when I got about seven or eight calls before 7:00 in the morning, I knew something was up, and I checked and saw the call log and realized that he probably made his decision. Then, my roommate came in and said, ‘Hey, did you hear the news?’ I said, ‘I’m sleeping. I got about four hours of sleep so far. So, let me go back to sleep.’"

* On whether the decision surprised him: "The timing, I think, surprised me. I thought that after we got to March, that he was probably going to come back if he hadn’t made his decision to retire. So, just the timing surprised me."

* On his emotions: "I was tired at the time, to be honest. I was excited, but to be honest, it was just another day. I had plans to play golf and see my buddy in L.A., and that’s what I did. It really hasn’t, I think, completely hit me yet, because I’ve been pretty much the No. 1 guy for the last March and April and part of May until Brett gets back. Until training camp hits, it’s going to be kind of offseason as usual, but … when you think about it, it’s my time to really be the leader now that he’s retired."

* On following the legend: "I’m always going to be compared to Brett, obviously. I think I just need to be my own quarterback, be my own man, though. And I think the most important thing on Tuesday was the texts I got from my teammates — just the encouragement. I’ve always felt like they believe in me. But just to have that reinforced by some of the text messages and calls I got was pretty special."

* On whether he was getting concerned about not getting to play much for a fourth straight year: "Not really. I was in San Diego, hanging out on the beach, working out, playing golf. Like I said, by the time the end of February hit, I pretty much figured he was coming back. It’s out of my control. To be honest, the last three years I’ve learned that things you can’t control are things that you don’t really need to worry about. So, I wasn’t too worried about it. I’d already been content and come to a place of peace about him coming back and being a backup for a fourth year."

More from Fan Fest and the associated press conferences later today.

-- Tom Pelissero, tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com