Aaron Rodgers hopes Packers don't play in Canton

With the disdain Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has publicly expressed for the NFL preseason, the last thing he's looking forward to is playing a fifth "meaningless" game in Canton, Ohio next August. 

Though with the almost universal disposition that former Green Bay slinger Brett Favre will be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and their recent tradition of hosting teams connected to inductees in that game, Mr. Rodgers may find himself just in that predicament.

"We hope we don't get it," Rodgers said, via FOX Sports. "But we know it's going to be tough because No. 4 is going to be going in."

Rodgers called exhibition games meaningless the day his team lost wide receiver Jordy Nelson to what must be presumed an equally meaningless torn ACL, telling FOX's Alex Marvez that the four contests aren't the best way of preparing teams for the NFL season.

"There are a lot of things that need to get looked at," he said. "The number of games is obviously one of them. I don't think we need four. Two teams have to play five. That's tough on everybody. Obviously, it's important for young players to show what they can do."

Rodgers said the lack of genuine effort on the part of coaches and game plans hinders any real preparation the preseason could actually provide teams.

"A lot of times there's agreements between coaches to maybe not pressure the [quarterback] during a game or do a certain type of coverage, or there are agreements within organizations in game plans that you're not going to show different plays. How much of a real game are you really simulating? I'd say a lot less than people think."

All of which are valid points, and coming from a player of Rodgers' stature, they may get heard by more ears than they otherwise would have. But the final decision, as it is in any business, is determined by the almighty dollar. Provided team owners are making the kind of money they are from ticket sales into these games, the more they will support their being played.

The answer is for stadium attendance and television viewership to fall at enough of a rate for owners to take note in the lack of interest, and only then will they take action. But after a long, cold winter and the liturgy of boredom that is steroid-less baseball, the sudden appearance of tackle football, even in its most dreary and imprecise form, is too much a spectacle to turn from.