CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Richard Rodgers remembers the day his son first humbled him. Richard Rodgers Jr. was 17 or 18 and they were on the basketball court in the driveway at home. Until that moment, the kid never had won.

Then it happened, a moment most fathers dread.

“That was my last physical competition with him," the special-teams coordinator for the Carolina Panthers said on Friday. “That’s why I had to switch to pingpong, where I had the upper hand."

Rodgers and Rodgers Jr., a rookie tight end for the Green Bay Packers, will be in a competitive situation again on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

It’s a game both pointed to immediately when the NFL schedule was released. It’s one the elder Rodgers says both have been “anxiously awaiting."

Packers tight end Richard Rodgers says he's looking forward to playing catch with his father, the Panthers special-teams coach. Mike Roemer/AP Photo

The younger Rodgers told ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky he just wants to play a simple game of catch with his dad before the game to make up for some of those moments they missed when dad was too busy watching film and he was playing.

The elder Rodgers had been doing a good job of hiding how emotional the game will be until he heard that.

“Now that’ll get me," he said.

There will be plenty of family support for this one. Rodgers’ wife, mother and mother-in-law will be there. It will be his mother’s birthday to add to the festive mood.

Other family members will be there, too. They all plan to go to dinner together on Saturday.

“It’ll be a good little reunion," the senior Rodgers said.

Football might come up in conversation, but not specifics about the game. If his son wants to talk about losing his starting job last week to Andrew Quarless, the elder Rodgers will listen.

But he doubts it will come up, or he’ll be asked for advice on how to handle it.

“He understands the game," said Rodgers Sr., who joined the Panthers in 2012. “Some see it as a lost job. I see it as they’re using him as they need to as a rookie. He’s still on the field playing a lot of plays and being a part of what they’re doing. He understands that. He’s fortunate enough to be in a starting role at all being a rookie coming into the National Football League."

Being around a father who not only coached the game but played it – a defensive back at California (1980-83), the same school his son became a star -- helped.

“He understands what’s going on, and I don’t ask him in depth about how they do things," Rodgers Sr. said. “He’s been my son for a long time. We have an unwritten rule. His coaches are his coaches. I’m his dad."

Dad still doesn’t like losing to son, whether it’s on the field or now in pingpong.

“I win in pingpong," the elder Rodgers said. “I guess the family can root for him in the game and we can win."