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Aaron Rodgers explains why 49ers passed on drafting him

Aaron Rodgers was asked on HBO’s Any Given Wednesday recently why the San Francisco 49ers passed on the Northern California native and fan favorite in order to choose Utah’s Alex Smith.

Think of it (or just think back): the story would have been incredible. Hometown hero goes to hometown school before playing for hometown NFL team . . .

Alas, it was not meant to be.

So why did the 49ers pass on Rodgers? Here is what he said:

“The story that I heard, and I don’t know if it’s true or not, was that Mike Nolan said that when he saw Alex open the car door for his mom, he knew that was the quarterback he wanted.