Life can come at you pretty quick in the NFL. Wide receiver Amari Rodgers learned that lesson the hard way while he was with the Green Bay Packers.
Rodgers was selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Packers and was released midway through his second year with the franchise. It’s a tough process for any player, but the former Clemson standout said he learned a valuable lesson through the disappointment.
“I just took it all in and just took every day for a grain of salt honestly, because the NFL means ‘Not For Long,’” Rodgers told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “It can be taken from you any day. Just being able to soak it all in and just enjoy every single moment, was important to me.”
After his release from Green Bay, Rodgers was picked up by the Houston Texans. In six games, he hauled in 12 receptions for 154 yards and a touchdown. Heading into his third season, he’s hoping to make a bigger impact on the field.
He says that the lessons he learned in Green Bay will only help him in Houston.
“I’m going to my third season, I have a lot of stuff that I’ve seen with the Packers. I was able to play with Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams the best of the best in the league. I was able to see it and see how they prepared, I took it in every single day and I just took it with me,” Rodgers said. “Just knowing that I’m more mature now, I know what it looks like I know what it takes to be successful in the league. I feel like that’s definitely gonna help me out.”
Amari Rodgers remained confident after release
Losing your spot on an NFL roster can be a difficult pill to swallow. And while it certainly wasn’t easy for Rodgers, he never lost confidence in himself. He remained optimistic that another chance would come his way.
“It’s part of the league. It happens to a lot of people. It doesn’t work out somewhere., but another opportunity opens up somewhere else,” Rodgers said. “Everything is not going to be peaches and cream. You just got to realize that just you just have to continue to grow and continue to believe in yourself and your craft and in the next opportunity just just make the best out of it.”
Before he entered the NFL, Rodgers was a standout receiver at Clemson. In four seasons with the Tigers, he totaled 181 catches for 2,144 yards and 15 touchdowns. His biggest year came in 2020, when he piled up 1,020 yards and caught seven touchdown passes.
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