A year before I became a passionate fan of the New York Jets, I developed one other obsessive interest: the Harry Potter series. My uncle bought the first book for me as a gift not long before my eighth birthday. It sat on my shelf collecting dust before I finally decided to read it, and so my love for the series was born.
That’s why, when I saw a video from The QB School called “Sorting NFL QBs – Harry Potter Style,” it immediately piqued my interest. The intersection of Harry Potter and football is like a dream come true. The QB School is a YouTube channel and Patreon community run by former journeyman NFL quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan, who breaks down quarterback film in depth and puts out many videos discussing common passing concepts.
Check out Jets X-Factor's Aaron Rodgers page for the most in-depth coverage of the Jets' quarterback you'll find anywhere.
O’Sullivan attempted to Sort all 32 starting NFL quarterbacks into their Hogwarts Houses. For those who are not Harry Potter fans, Hogwarts is the Wizarding school in Great Britain. The four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Here are the character traits that best characterize the members of each House.
- Gryffindor: bravery, sense of honor, loyalty, boldness, courage, passion
- Hufflepuff: sense of justice, loyalty, patience, hard work, kindness
- Ravenclaw: intelligence, learning, wisdom, wit, motivation, creativity
- Slytherin: ambition, resourcefulness, determination, cleverness, cunning, self-preservation
(Of course, people cannot be truly sorted this arbitrarily and discretely, but that’s why it’s ultimately a children’s book.)
O’Sullivan added in his own parameters, placing players who are somewhat quirky and odd into Ravenclaw and those with a penchant for laziness into Hufflepuff. How that works with Hufflepuff’s value of hard work beats me, but, hey, it was his video. This article, however, is mine.
Before I reveal where O’Sullivan Sorted Aaron Rodgers, take your own guess. I was debating between two but had a sinking feeling I knew which one he’d choose. I was, unfortunately, correct.
Is this Aaron Rodgers’ primary trait?
Here’s what O’Sullivan had to say about Rodgers: “Probably the easiest Sort of all of these starting quarterbacks… Aaron Rodgers, you are a Slytherin.” He compared Rodgers to Draco Malfoy, who was Sorted into Slytherin the moment the Sorting Hat touched his head.
To me, this is taking the easy and, perhaps, the coward’s way out. J.T. O’Sullivan, you are not a Gryffindor.
In Harry Potter lore, Slytherin is the bad house: “There’s no witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin.” Therefore, it’s handy to place the player the NFL loves to hate there.
But if you think of it, what’s the first characteristic Aaron Rodgers has as a football player? His intelligence. His teammates say he’s like another coach on the field. Many of his press conferences include specific concepts and changes to plays that you wouldn’t hear from other quarterbacks. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport called him “a special mind.” That’s what sticks out the most to players who have been around Rodgers.
How is that not a Ravenclaw? And to think that O’Sullivan even said he was putting oddballs into Ravenclaw! Rodgers has a lot of Luna Lovegood in him.
Sorting other Jets players
Using the parameters for the Houses, here’s how I would Sort other Jets players.
Garrett Wilson: Gryffindor. His whole personality screams passionate and bold.
Breece Hall: This is not at all a knock on Breece to say that I think he’s a Slytherin. I see him as quite ambitious personally and very resourceful when he’s on the field. Breece is what a good Slytherin looks like.
Quinnen Williams: Quinnen is not an easy Sort. I think he embodies patience and hard work, though, making him a true yellow Hufflepuff.
Sauce Gardner: Gardner is hard to place because he’s quite laid back off the field. I really struggled with this one, which generally defaults to Hufflepuff.
C.J. Mosley: Mosley’s personality strikes me as a Hufflepuff, but ultimately, as the brains behind the Jets’ defense on the field, he’s got to be a Ravenclaw.
Alijah Vera-Tucker: AVT screams Hufflepuff. He’s just the ultimate hardworking good guy who will do whatever you ask him to without complaint.
D.J. Reed: I see a bit of Slytherin in Reed. He’s crafty as a cornerback, “cheating” a lot to give himself the maximum advantage. For a 5-foot-9 player to become a top-tier boundary corner, a lot of resourcefulness must be involved.
Quincy Williams: Quincy has some Gryffindor in him. He plays like a monster on the field and puts 110% of himself out there on every play.
Allen Lazard: It’s easy to place the biggest Jets villain into Slytherin, but the truth is that he’s not clever enough for it. Hufflepuff is the best place just because he’s a former undrafted free agent who worked his way up the Packers’ roster.
Robert Saleh: I think he’s ultimately a Gryffindor because loyalty is his primary trait, almost to a fault.
Jets fans, how many of you have read the Harry Potter series and/or watched the movies? What do you think of my conclusions? Is Rodgers really a Slytherin?
