RandBall: Aaron Rodgers made up his mind, and not a minute too soon

Strange things happen to me when I get overheated.

The clearest example, which happened more than three decades ago, came when I was watching an Atlanta Braves game while sick. In my feverish state, an oddly specific thought came to me: This batter is going to hit the ball off the third base bag.

On the next pitch, that’s exactly what happened.

Extreme coincidence? Quite possibly, but there is something to be said for the realm between the conscious and unconscious mind that can be produced by an altered brain state.

A less extreme, external heat produced another hot take Thursday. I like to go for a run over a lunch break, and Thursday’s midday sun was more intense than expected. As I took a little walk break a couple miles in and tried to cool down, a thought suddenly wouldn’t leave me alone: Everyone can say whatever they want, but Aaron Rodgers has a 50/50 chance of signing with the Vikings.

If he was going to sign with the Steelers, why hasn’t he done it yet?

This is an athlete motivated more by winning and revenge than anything else.

I pulled out my phone and was on the verge of texting our group of Vikings writers and a group chat I’m in with other friends, in order to explain this mixture of paranoia and epiphany (paraniphany?) I was experiencing.

But as noted on Friday’s “Daily Delivery” podcast, something stopped me.

I can’t remember if it was discretion or distraction, but the texts never made it out.

That was around 1 p.m. Barely an hour later, there were the reports: Rodgers is signing with the Steelers.

We can all cool down, especially me. Rodgers is not coming to the Vikings. We are not going to relive the Brett Favre era, for better or worse. This is J.J. McCarthy’s team, also for better or worse.

Maybe a small part of me wanted Rodgers here for the absurdity and the possibility, but most of me is relieved.

The Vikings are dealing in the reality of a gradual process instead of dabbling in desperation. It’s a win in the long run, especially if we stay out of the midday sun.

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