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Aaron Rodgers says 49ers drafted Alex Smith because he was polite

Chris Trotman / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The San Francisco 49ers selection of quarterback Alex Smith over California native Aaron Rodgers at the 2005 NFL Draft has long been a topic of discussion among 49ers fans and NFL observers alike.

Rodgers famously slid all the way to 24th overall before the Green Bay Packers scooped him up to sit behind Hall of Famer Brett Favre for a few seasons.

According to Rodgers, the selection was made at the behest of head coach Mike Nolan because Smith was more polite.

"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," Rodgers said on HBO's Any Given Wednesday.

"I was at lunch with (the 49ers)," Rodgers said. "My mom wasn't there. My dad wasn't there."

The story, while seemingly absurd, jives with what Nolan has said about the choice to draft Smith.

"The other thing as Alex at the time was a good kid - a very good person, a safe choice, always trying to please," Nolan said in April. "On the other hand, Aaron was very cocky, very confident, arrogant. So you can say, 'Why didn't you take him to begin with?' Because that's really what your best quarterbacks look like. They aren't very pleasing. They aren't very safe."

Rodgers has gone on to become arguably the best quarterback in the NFL, leading the Packers to a Super Bowl championship and winning two MVP awards. Despite being visibly disappointed at the time, the situation has worked out for Rodgers.

"I just laugh at stories like that because it has nothing to do with being a quarterback," Rodgers said.

Though it was only 2005, Nolan's type of decision-making process seems to be from a bygone era, where gut feelings from talent-evaluators superseded facts and film.

Maybe if Nolan was in charge of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the angelic Marcus Mariota would've been selected over Jameis Winston in 2015.

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