When Aaron Rodgers didn't hold back before trashing a controversial call vs. Seahawks - "Apologize to the fans"

Aaron Rodgers has seen it all in the league, but some infamous moments will forever live with him. Perhaps one of the toughest losses he has ever suffered in his career came in the game publicly known as "Fail Mary."

The most exciting play in American football is the hail mary, where a team desperate to score a touchdown to tie or win the game tries a last gasp deep throw to the end zone and hopes for a miracle.

That's exactly what the Seattle Seahawks tried to do in Week 3 of the 2012 season in a Monday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers. It was Russell Wilson's third-ever game in the league, and both teams came into that game with a 1-1 record.

We've seen Aaron Rodgers throw it plenty of times, but he has also been victim of the hail mary.

The 2012 referee lockout became a huge problem for the NFL

Now that you're here, it's time for some context. At the start of that season, the primary NFL referees were all out of the league as the NFL and the officials' union could not come to terms on a new collective bargaining deal.

With the officials' lockout, the season started anyway, and the league hired replacement referees. But the problems arised quickly: in Week 2, a referee had to be removed from a New Orleans Saints game because he was a fan of the team, and on Thursday Night Football of Week 3, the game-winning field goal for the Baltimore Ravens against the New England Patriots was clearly over the crossbar, but the referees called it in.

That was nothing compared to what was to come.

Aaron Rodgers, Packers on wrong side of Fail Mary

Now, we should be real with our readers. Except for the final play, that Monday Night Football game was boring, and nothing good was supposed to come out of it. Except that, with 12 seconds left and losing 12-7, the Seahawks had one final shot to throw the ball to the end zone and score the game-winning touchdown.

That's exactly what Russell Wilson did. Or, well, kinda. (You have to click on the video to go to YouTube, since NFL blocks the video)

It's clear as daylight that the ball wasn't caught by Golden Tate! The Seahawks receiver had nothing to do with the ball, which was 100% intercepted. But the referees signaled the touchdown and gave the victory to Seattle.

The levels of confusion right after the play were as high as it could get, and obviously, the Packers were not happy. Rodgers himself issued an apology to the league fans.

"First of all, I've got to do something that the NFL is not going to do, and I have to apologize to the fans. Our sport (has) generated a multi-billion dollar machine, by people who pay good money to come watch us play. And the product on the field is not being complemented by an appropriate set of officials. The games are getting out of control."

But Rodgers and the Packers didn't have to wait for the primary officials to return. After the debacle, the league negotiated a new deal with the union as quick as they could, and they were back three days later for the Thursday Night Football in Week 4.

But the Fail Mary will always be a bad look for the league, and unfortunately for Rodgers and the Packers, they were on the wrong side of it.