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One of the earliest bricks in the wall between Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers came when Rodgers was drafted, and the older quarterback said: “My contract doesn’t say I have to get Aaron Rodgers ready to play. Now hopefully he watches me and gets something from that.”

But over time, that wall has come down, and Favre said that after talking to Rodgers, the current Packers quarterback understands him.

“We talked about that,” Favre said during an interview on ESPN 540. “He said, ‘I get it now. I get what you were saying, or how you carried yourself.’ . . .

“There is no clause that says, ‘You groom the next guy who’s going to take your job, or else.’ It doesn’t work that way.”

(Somewhere in Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger nods silently.)

It took years for the old wounds created by Favre bristling at his replacement being drafted to heal. And after their famous photo op at the 2013 NFL Honors, the two have continued to work on their relationship, as Favre said he talked to Rodgers last week.

But even that took effort.

“I told Aaron, if I do anything, I’m going to get you a phone that works,” Favre said. “That guy may be the worst at returning messages.”

Of course, for a long time Favre was the one giving Rodgers the cold shoulder. So perhaps it’s a last bit of payback, between two men whose competitiveness put them among the best to ever play.