Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Having only been a receiver for three years before getting drafted, Nelson knew he had a lot to learn and therefore focused on the conversations Rodgers had with his other veteran receivers. Whenever they spoke, he listened.
“I was just trying to absorb everything,” he said. “One thing I always tried to do was never have to be told a second time. I wanted to be able to learn, if it was from their mistakes or what they did well, so (Rodgers) didn’t have to tell me again a couple years later.”
What resulted in Nelson’s prime was an array of unstoppable back-shoulder throws, spectacular tip-toe sideline grabs, long breakaway touchdowns and improvised big plays. As Rodgers won two MVP awards in 2011 and ’14, the duo was seemingly never not on the same page.
A torn ACL in the 2015 preseason cost Nelson a full year and likely much higher marks in franchise annals, but he returned in 2016 to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors with another monster season.
By then he was firmly established as the elder statesmen and leader in the receiver room while the team’s current go-to guy, Adams, was coming into his own. His work ethic and professional approach to everything he did leaves a legacy in the locker room greater than he probably realizes.
“That’s for them to answer,” Nelson said. “I kept it simple, came in and worked, and did what was asked.”
Nelson’s final year in Green Bay, 2017, unfortunately was largely without Rodgers after the quarterback broke his right collarbone in Week 6. Nelson had caught six TD passes in the season’s first five games as he and Rodgers raised their franchise record as a duo together to 65 (70 including postseason), but it stopped there.
Nelson didn’t catch another TD pass for the Packers, was released heading into 2018 and signed with Oakland, where he played his final pro season. As hard as it was to leave Green Bay, he has no regrets over what he described as an enjoyable year in California with his family, but when the Raiders released him, he and his wife decided not to keep moving around.
As he gets settled again back in Kansas, he’s working on building a house and helping his brother on the farm. Other than that, he has no immediate plans in retirement. It was important, though, to come back to Green Bay to end things where they started.