Jets' Sauce Gardner burns the cheesehead he took from Lambeau Field in a fire pit as recruitment of Aaron Rodgers literally heats up

These Jets players aren't messing around anymore.

Forget social media pleas, they're showing their burning desire to get Aaron Rodgers to the Big Apple in a tangible way.

Jets players have been pushing for the 39-year-old Rodgers to come to the New York Jets and leave Green Bay where he has played his entire 18-year career. Last night, a few of them took it a step further when they burned a cheesehead in a fire pit (Packers fans, you might need to look away from the video below).

A video of their sacrificial ceremony that was posted to Gardner's YouTube page quickly went viral Thursday night. Jets All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner led the efforts and earlier in the week he even tweeted out a photo of the fire pit that he bought at a hardware store.

Jets stars Sauce Gardner, Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson all make case to Aaron Rodgers during cheesehead sacrifice

Gardner was joined Thursday by teammates running back Breece Hall and wide receiver Garrett Wilson, the 2022 offensive rookie of the year, and each of them made their best pitches to Rodgers.

"Where A-Rod at," Gardner said in the video. "Let's make this happen, that's me talking now. I ain't playing no games no more. I'm not playing no more. I was playing at first. I'm not playing no more. You can see it in my face. I need you to lock in.

"I need you to come here so we can win a Super Bowl. Don't even play no more. You've been playing a little, too. Just chill."

(Warning: the below video has some foul language.)

The group threw the cheesehead into the fire pit and watched it become engulfed by flames.

"Look at the cheese, it's melting" Gardner proclaimed. "It's turning into cheese sauce."

They joked in the video that they should have made s'mores and that they were going to collect the "cheese sauce" to serve with some chips.

Sauce Gardner burns cheesehead he took after the Jets beat the Packers last season

Gardner had the cheesehead from when the Jets came to Lambeau Field last season and smoked the Packers, 27-10, in Week 6. Gardner, who was the 2022 NFL defensive rookie of the year, wore the cheesehead to poke fun at Packers fans as he paraded around the field following the victory.

Gardner said in Thursday night's YouTube video that he was "on top of the world" when he put on the cheesehead after that game.

Earlier this week, Gardner tweeted that if Rodgers became a Jet he'd burn the cheesehead. Well, Rodgers isn't a Jet yet but Gardner is hoping the cheesehead sacrifice will now lead to the Packers quarterback trading in his green and gold for green and white in 2023.

Why are the Jets looking to trade for Aaron Rodgers?

The Jets are making an aggressive push to make Rodgers, a future Hall of Famer, their quarterback. The team would pair him with a talented group of young offensive players to go with one of the NFL's top-ranked defenses.

The one missing piece from last year was at quarterback where they had instability. The Jets started three quarterbacks in 2022 (Joe Flacco, Zach Wilson and Mike White). Wilson, drafted second overall in the 2021 draft, was benched multiple times in the season following yearlong struggles. The Jets missed the playoffs after losing their final six games to finish 7-10.

In Gardner's YouTube video he called Rodgers "one of, if not, the greatest quarterback in the league right now."

Jets ownership and coaches reportedly flew out to Rodgers' Malibu, California, home earlier this week to make a recruitment pitch to the four-time MVP player. Since Rodgers is signed with the Packers, Green Bay had to give permission to the Jets to talk to their player.

After the meeting, the Jets believe they are on the brink of a trade with the Packers, according to ESPN reporter from Dianna Russini.

Packers president Mark Murphy implies Aaron Rodgers isn't in team's future plans

Packers president Mark Murphy doused a some more gas on the fire when he went on a statewide broadcast of the WIAA girls state basketball tournament on Friday and implied that the only way Rodgers could be back in Green Bay is "unless things don't work out the way we would want them."

Murphy, speaking at a venue that is across the street from Lambeau Field, said he hoped the result is a "win-win situation" for everyone and that if Rodgers asked for a trade the organization would honor it.

More:If Jordan Love is the Packers' next starting quarterback, his supporting cast will play a pivotal role

Podcast:What's happening with Aaron Rodgers? All we heard at NFL scouting combine, more

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sauce Gardner burns cheesehead in fire pit to recruit Aaron Rodgers