When Aaron Rodgers left the Green Bay Packers last year David Bakhtiari got emotional with his public goodbye to his longtime teammate on social media. In addition to a heartfelt message, he had a video montage of the two during their decade together.
A year later, with Bakhtiari announcing that his time in Green Bay is over, Rodgers offered just one but personal emoji to offer his feelings toward his longtime friend: A heart.
Rodgers was responding to Bakhtiari’s farewell message to the Packers on X in which he called the last 11 years “a hell of a run.”
Bakhtiari responded to Rodgers’ tweet with a photo of the two during their younger days in Green Bay.
“I gave it my all,” Bakhtiari wrote in his farewell. “I always gave it my best no matter the circumstance and to me, that truly was enough. My 32 year old self is so damn proud of that 21 year old with no facial hair, bushy tail kid that just wanted to do his best. I’m so proud of you.”
Bakhtiari is a former fourth-round pick out of Colorado who became a five-time All-Pro blocking Rodgers’ blind side. Over the years, the two developed a strong friendship.
Bakhtiari has not been the same since he tore his ACL on the final day in 2020. He has played only 16 of a possible 58 games since the injury. He only played one game this past year — the season opener — after needing another knee surgery. He didn’t indicate in his social media post if he was finished with football or will continue his career, but in his last public comments last October he acknowledged he still wanted to play.
“For whatever happens next, I look forward to it,” Bakhtiari wrote on Monday.
Could he end up with Rodgers on the New York Jets? Social media is already speculating.
Bakhtiari ended his post with the same line that he used last year in his message about Rodgers.
“Don’t cry because it’s over,” Bakhtiari wrote. “Smile, because it happened.”