FANS

Aaron Rodgers says Mason Crosby and wife Molly beat him to Thanksgiving hosting duties this year

Kendra Meinert
Green Bay Press-Gazette

There’s no 25-pound Butterball turkey thawing at Aaron Rodgers’ house.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback isn’t hosting Thanksgiving this year, but he plans to enjoy the feast kicker Mason Crosby and his wife Molly will be serving up.

During his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, Rodgers talked turkey before he got into his injured thumb, “wobblers,” his future and other football-related matters. He said Thanksgiving ranks as "one of my favorite celebrated holidays," which might explain why he was downright jovial talking about it — even if he did get aced out of hosting duties among some of the players this time around.

“There’s never really been too many competing parties, but this year the Crosbys, you know those kickers, they rose up and said, ‘Not this year. This year is ours,’” Rodgers said, giving it a dramatic telling for humor. “I was assuming the Bakhtiaris (David and Frankie) and the Cobbs (Randall and Aiyda) would kind of triple host this thing at my house gladly like I’ve done in the past, but the Crosbys kind of jumped in there and bogarted all of our guest lists, so it’s at the Crosbys this year.”

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is off the hook when it comes to hosting Thanksgiving this year.

Rodgers is good with that. More freedom for a “French or Irish exit" (the custom of leaving a party without saying goodbye), he said. While the Crosbys have always been invited to Thanksgiving celebrations at his house, and sometimes attended, Rodgers joked they weren't always "100% RSVPers."

When McAfee asked if he was expecting a good spread from the Crosbys, Rodgers did some more ribbing of his teammate of the last 15 years.

“It better be, because I’m going to be in there judging the hell out of all of it. The decorations, the food presentation, the food options, the dessert options. I’m going to try really hard to get into my ayahuasca mindset and not judge every little thing, but how can you not?” he said.

“The first and most important thing and most fun thing to judge is the turkey, right? Because it literally, as anybody knows who has cooked a turkey, it’s the most nerve-wracking thing of all time to get that thing right.”

Rodgers acknowledged that for all the pressure that comes with preparing the bird, it comes in behind all the side dishes on most people's lists of favorite indulgences at the Thanksgiving table. That turned the conversation to the subject of putting gravy on your turkey, something McAfee revealed he does not do.

“Gravy is for the mashed potatoes, because mashed potatoes have a terrible taste and they need a good flavor," McAfee said.

At least one audible gasp, and rightfully so, could be heard in the studio.

More:$46 to get into Lions game? Ticket prices sinking along with Green Bay Packers' fortunes

More:Aaron Rodgers, Packers teammates celebrated Halloween in costume at Terror on the Fox

Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert