It turns out the rift between recently-fired Packers head coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t start last season during Green Bay’s disappointing 6-9-1 finish. It didn’t even start while the two were together in Green Bay.
A tremendous in-depth report into their feud by Bleacher Report’s Tyler Dunne revealed that Rodgers was never okay with McCarthy because of a decision the coach and the 49ers made while he was the team’s offensive coordinator in the 2005 NFL draft.
No, Rodgers would not forget that McCarthy had helped perpetuate his four-and-a-half-hour wait in the NFL draft green room the year prior. His nationally televised embarrassment. McCarthy, then the 49ers offensive coordinator, chose Alex Smith No. 1 overall. Not Rodgers.
No, Rodgers would not take it as a funny accident.
“Aaron’s always had a chip on his shoulder with Mike,” says Ryan Grant, the Packers’ starting running back from 2007 to 2012. “The guy who ended up becoming your coach passed on you when he had a chance.Aaron was upset that Mike passed on him—that Mike actually verbally said that Alex Smith was a better quarterback.”
The 49ers had the top pick and a gaping hole at quarterback going into that 2005 draft. Rodgers out of Cal, and Smith out of Utah were widely considered the top two quarterback prospects.
San Francisco selected Smith, leading to a 23-pick slide for Rodgers until the Packers took him with the No. 24 pick.
Green Bay went 4-12 in Rodgers’ rookie season, leading to the firing of head coach Mike Sherman, and opening the door for McCarthy to step into the role after one year as the offensive coordinator of San Francisco’s league-worst offense. Rodgers rode the bench behind Brett Favre for three seasons until he was handed the starting job in 2008.
Meanwhile, Smith and the 49ers struggled. The former No. 1 overall pick dealt with injuries and getting benched while he dealt with a constant cycle of new head coaches and new offensive coordinators.
The Smith vs. Rodgers debate never stopped raging after the draft, and it’s still liable to come up every time the 49ers and Packers play each other. For as upset as Rodgers was about the snub by McCarthy and San Francisco, everything worked out alright for him. He was a perennial playoff contender and a Super Bowl winner, while Smith didn’t make the playoffs until 2011, and fell short of a Super Bowl that year.
It’s nearly 15 years after the fact, but the 49ers’ decision to draft Alex Smith is still sending ripples through the league. With the 2019 draft approaching at the end of April, there aren’t many better reminders of the potential impact a draft selection can have.
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