Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks as calm and composed as anyone at his position on the gridiron, but hitting the links with President Barack Obama was a different story.
Per Jason Wilde of ESPN.com, Rodgers spoke to ex-teammate A.J. Hawk in a recent podcast interview about the experience of playing golf in a foursome with the United States' 44th president:
It was my best round of the year, thankfully. … I want to play well out there and obviously you walk on the first tee with the leader of the free world -- who's competitive -- [and] I didn't want to go out there and embarrass myself. Luckily I put together a decent round and made some putts. But I was very nervous at the first tee.
The star signal-caller shined in the high-pressure situation, carding a round of 75 at The Courses at Andrews Air Force Base. He also spoke to Hawk about how playing in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and other events with fans watching makes him anxious:
That gets me 10 times more nervous than the first snap in a game or a snap in the fourth quarter when you've got to make a play. I'm worried about hitting people, I'm worried about whiffing, I'm worried about looking terrible out there. …
[I'm thinking] 'Anywhere on the club face, anywhere up in the air so I don't hit somebody.' I think I hit somebody at Pebble Beach when I played in the pro-am a couple years ago. But I've been pretty lucky so far.
Also in the quartet with President Obama and Rodgers were ESPN personality Tony Kornheiser and astronaut Mark Kelly, who organized the golf gathering and became friends with Rodgers when they met on the set of HBO's The Newsroom.
"I said, 'I'm all in. Just let me know,'" Rodgers said when he received the invitation to play, per Wilde. "In February, they sent five or six dates and they said, 'Can you make any of these dates work?' And I said, 'Yeah. Any of them. Just pick one. I'll be there.'"
Rodgers also said he gave the commander in chief as many "gimme" putts as he could and was given a unique ride back to California, but he wouldn't divulge the specifics of the transportation method.
Golf is a mentally taxing game as it is, never mind having to deal with the surreal experience of playing alongside President Obama. Rodgers was able to draw on his experience in the spotlight and ultimately succeed, though.
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