GREEN BAY, Wis. — Wednesday was a day unlike any other for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was being celebrated throughout the state of Wisconsin for what was officially recognized as Aaron Rodgers Day.
Rodgers, who wears jersey No. 12, had Dec. 12, 2012 (12-12-12) dedicated in his honor. And when the team's practice began Wednesday morning, Rodgers' teammates didn't let him forget it either, as several Green Bay players showed up in No. 12 jerseys instead of their own.
"I'd like to thank my teammates for wearing my jersey for 20 minutes, and getting scared and taking it off," Rodgers said during a series of thank-you's at his locker.
During training camp, Packers offensive linemen T.J. Lang and Josh Sitton were responsible for a different jersey gag when they swapped out their names with "Friday" and "Sunday" and stood on opposite sides of veteran center Jeff Saturday for a photo-op.
Lang, without directly admitting it, was apparently the brainchild of this joke, as well.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Lang said. "You've got to celebrate Aaron Rodgers as much as you can around here. He doesn't get very much credit for what he does. I guess to give him his own day, it's pretty special.
"We had some fun with it today, wearing his jersey. He was a good sport about it. He just laughed. He got a kick out of it. It was just something we had a little bit of fun with.
"We like to poke at him as much as we can; not very many opportunities for that, for him being as sensitive as he usually is. So we had some fun with it."
Lang and his fellow pranksters soon switched back to their regular jerseys and continued practice in a more traditional manner.
"It's really special," Rodgers said of having Aaron Rodgers Day. "It's a great honor. I appreciate it from Gov. (Scott) Walker and the folks that started the Facebook page and those that liked it enough to gain some recognition. This is something that will probably only happen once in my lifetime, so I appreciate it."
As Rodgers' interview concluded, he wished everyone a happy 12-12-12. After all, it won't be 12-12-12 again for another 100 years.
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