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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Kevin Durant's decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors got Aaron Rodgers thinking about his own legacy. So, too, did the retirements of the New York Yankees' Derek Jeter, the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant and, just this week, the San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan. Rodgers has long said that he hopes he's able to finish his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers, the team that drafted him in 2005 and the team for which he's been the starting quarterback since 2008. But having had a front-row seat for his predecessor Brett Favre's acrimonious departure from the franchise in the summer of 2008, Rodgers knows that's in no way guaranteed. Nevertheless, Rodgers told Bill Simmons on HBO's "Any Given Wednesday" that it's important to him to finish his career in Green Bay. "You look at two of my favorite players from my sports-watching lifetime, Derek Jeter and Kobe Bryant -- and now Tim Duncan, who just retired -- those are three amazing examples of guys who played the entire time [with the same team]," Rodgers told Simmons in an interview that was taped Tuesday. "Their legacy, I think, gets made in those later years, when they've really proven to win championships and be at the top of their game: Derek to be one of the best shortstops of all time, one of the best Yankees of all time; Kobe, one of the best players, best Lakers of all time; and Tim, one of the best power forwards of all time. "But later in their career, they stay with the same team, they stick it out. ... I think there's a lot to be said about finishing your legacy off the right way with one team and it'd be nice to be able to do that." Rodgers led the 2010 Packers to the Super Bowl XLV title but is still in search of his second championship. About Duncan, Rodgers added, "There was times when people criticized him for being too boring, but he did it his way. And there's a lot to be said for that. And he did it the right way." Rodgers, who will turn 33 in December and is under contract with the Packers through the 2019 season, spent three seasons behind Favre, who played 16 seasons in Green Bay before being traded to the New York Jets in August 2008 and spending two more seasons with the rival Minnesota Vikings. Rodgers told Simmons that he and Favre talk, text or email "a few" times per year and that they've done that more often since sharing the stage at the NFL Honors in 2013.
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