Aaron Rodgers Got Shafted In The Madden Cover Vote

Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: forget the Super Bowl MVP — it's down to Peyton Hillis and Michael Vick.

Aaron Rodgers joined ESPN 850 WKNR in Cleveland with Tony Rizzo to talk about what it would've been like to be put on the cover of Madden, the fact that the Packers play on all the major holidays and how much that bothers him, how he feels about the schedule being released in the middle of a lockout, and how many games he expects to play in the regular season this year.

How much it would've meant to him to be put on the cover of Madden: "I think it definitely would've been cool. It was a game that I played as a kid. Not really a game I play anymore, but I played as a kid growing up. I was able to keep up with it through my twitter. I know there were a lot of Green Bay fans that were voting against me because they believe in the so-called Madden curse, but I was following it for sure."

Having to play on all the major holidays during the season: "That kinda comes with the territory there. The NFL, you don't get a chance to celebrate the Fall or Winter holidays. It's just business as usual. I think it will be our third Thanksgiving game in seven years. We played on Christmas and New Years in 2005. At least we're home on Christmas. That will be good, but its part of the NFL. It will be nice to have those national games as well."

How odd it was that the schedule got released during a lockout: "I do find it a little bit odd, but I think hopefully that's a sign of optimism that we're going to get something done. There's too many people involved, obviously the players, coaches, and owners, but the fans and the communities that are affected by our lockout. Hopefully that means they're optimistic that we're going to get something done. In my off time, I've really been working out, getting back at it, and I've changed my offseason routine a little bit to focus pretty strongly on my diet and my body fat. Getting that to a place where I feel really good about my body. I've also been trying to play a little bit of golf as well."

How many games he expects to play in the regular season: "I hope there's not 18. I'm optimistic and confident in the leadership on our side that we're going to be able to get something done. There's too many people affected like I said. You look at a community like Green Bay, those businesses that are around Lambeau and are in Green Bay, the hotels, stores, the restaurants, and bars are all really affected by a lockout, a prolonged lockout where we miss some time so I hope we consider them in this process and find a way to get something done that both sides can agree upon."

What the best part is about winning a Super Bowl: "My ring hopefully but I heard they put those on hold. I haven't seen it yet. Because the memories at some point you kinda lose your memory and you always have the highlights to watch, but that ring is something you can look down, and not like I'm gonna wear it a lot, I don't see myself doing that, but it's just something you can look at and remember for that one day, that one year you were World Champions."

This post, written by Chris Fedor, appears courtesy of Sports Radio Interviews. For the complete highlights of the interview, as well as audio, click here.

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