Can Aaron Rodgers summon the Mamba Mentality in 2024?

April 26, 2024

September 11th will always be a day for honoring and remembering those who were lost in the horrific attacks that happened that day in 2001. Now, the Jets fans have something else connected to that day, as if the day wasn't horrible enough. It's the night the prized savior of their franchise, Aaron Rodgers, tore his Achilles just four plays into the game.

Last year's New York Jets training camp season was the most anticipated for the franchise due to the prized quarterback they traded for. Some NFL players even jumped on the Jets' bandwagon because of Rodgers, like running back Dalvin Cook, who signed with the Jets. The Jets seemed to be ready to take flight, but as always, the football gods had other plans.

So now that we are at the brink of a new NFL season, what Rodgers has left in the tank is a considerable concern. Rodgers was adamant about his recovery as he used alternative medical processes to heal. He did, however, use a man who's no stranger to saving athletes past their primes after an Achilles injury. That man is Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the surgeon who worked on restructuring Mr. Rodgers' valuable Achilles, mainly because of Dr. ElAttrache's breakthrough "Speed Bridge Achilles." The Speed Bridge is a breakthrough surgery where the Achilles repairs faster and is strong enough to play again.

In 2013, Dr. ElAttrache and his surgery were known as the reason the late NBA Legend Kobe Bryant was able to come back at the age of 34. It took him a little under eight months to come back. Bryant went on to play three more years while still being "The Black Mamba."

This time in Kobe's career can be a prime example of the infamous Mamba Mentality, and Bryant has countless examples of why the mantra was created. Bryant's definition of the mentality is all about focusing on the process and trusting in the hard work when it matters most. Bryant may have left us too soon, but his Mamba Mentality has never been forgotten.

You talk to any professional athlete, and they know what the Mamba Mentality means. A few try to incorporate that mentality into their own game and lifestyle, including a legend in a different professional sport, Rodgers. He was not shy about his rehab blueprint and was inspired by how Bryant returned from his ruptured Achilles.

Rodgers, using the same doctor as Bryant, brought him remembered a meeting he had with him.

"He invited me back into the locker room, and they played Milwaukee years and years ago, and he was in there in this Italian suit, smoking a cigar," Rodgers said about meeting Bryant. "It was like, that so gangsta. It was so good. Just the energy that he had and commanded. And that's what charismatic people do. They give you that nostalgic remembrance."

Some can argue now with Rodgers's quote that he tried to be like Kobe a little in his own game. However, no one can argue that when Rodgers needed inspiration and motivation to start this unprecedented rehab process, Bryant's influence on already a sports legend was present in those rehab workouts.

It is now time for Rodgers to take that Mamba Mentality out of rehabbing into his seventeenth NFL season, similar to what Bryant did. It is easier said than done; not everyone can be Bryant. Rodgers has an advantage that Bryant didn't have following the year of the torn Achilles.

On paper, this year's Jets team should be a playoff team, and the excitement will only get amped up after the NFL Draft as the Jets hold a top-ten draft pick. Many people always reference the Mamba. Mentally, only a few have an opportunity to make a difference with it, and Rodgers has that shot and a chance to go even further than Bryant following their Achilles injuries. So the only question is, can Rodgers summon the Mamba and use it to lead this starving franchise and fan base to the promised land?