Rodgers no longer villain who forced Favre out of Green Bay
DALLAS -- Imagine being a kid, just out of college, barely in your 20s, and you walk into a new job and everybody knows you are there to one day take the best job in the building from the star employee, even though he's the top moneymaker in the company, driving the best company car with the biggest, grandest office and making up his own rules as he goes.
Oh, one more thing: The vet doesn't like you, and certainly doesn't want you in the building.
Now you know how Aaron Rodgers felt when he arrived in Green Bay.
Rodgers, the Packers quarterback, went to Green Bay as a first-round pick in 2005, even though Brett Favre still was tossing laser throws through the cold Wisconsin air and still was more popular than a car heater on a frigid January day.
Make no mistake, it was Favre's team, and there was no way that was changing -- at least not in Favre's mind.
So he made it difficult on the kid. Rodgers shies away from taking shots at Favre, and there have been plenty of chances here during the lead-up for Super Bowl XLV, but those who know say Favre did little to help the kid.
"He wasn't mean to him or anything, but he just didn't help him like other vets helped younger players at other positions," one Packers source said. "You could tell he felt threatened."
Maybe Favre knew what was coming. Maybe he knew that in less than three years, he would be sent packing, opening the door for Rodgers.
It was a decision that stunned Packers fans, causing a venomous flow of anger directed at general manager Ted Thompson and made Rodgers the bad guy.
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Some would wilt under that pressure. Replacing legends never is easy. The sports landscape is littered with failed replacements. The quarterback position is loaded with them. Miami's still looking for a Dan Marino replacement. Have the Broncos ever replaced John Elway? How about Jim Kelly in Buffalo?
But Rodgers has answered the call in Green Bay. And in reaching his first Super Bowl, Rodgers' journey bears a resemblance to Steve Young's in San Francisco.
Young won a Super Bowl after taking over for Joe Montana but the relationship between the two was strained from the start, not unlike Rodgers and Favre. Montana never warmed to Young, and those on the inside say he approached Young with total disdain.
Over the years, Rodgers and Young have become kindred spirits. They talk. They discuss football and they may even discuss replacing a legend. But when Rodgers was asked if a victory against the Steelers would be a lot like Young's Super Bowl victory in terms of satisfaction, he balked.
"It would be a fulfillment of this season and nothing more," he said. "I think there's obviously other correlations that people are going to take depending on how we do, but I'm just focused on this season. It would be a fulfillment of a long, up-and-down, adverse season with a great ending."
But if the Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Rodgers matches Young's achievement -- maybe in more ways than just winning the Super Bowl.
"I think a lot of people probably doubted him," Packers receiver Donald Driver said. "When all the things were going up and down the roller coaster with Brett, I just think it got to a point where Aaron was a better man than most people would've handled it. He handled it well and he knew he was going to get his opportunity. I think that's all he wanted. Once you get your opportunity, you got to make the best of it and I think Aaron has done everything that he can."
He's one win away from equaling Favre's Super Bowl victory total, and possibly etching his name among the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. Some out there think he's already as good as Favre, absurd considering Favre's longevity and career numbers, but it's hard to argue that Favre played any better than Rodgers has in these playoffs.
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| Favre celebrates during his Super Bowl victory over the Patriots in 1997. (Getty Images) |
"We've moved on from that a long time ago," Thompson said of the decision. "There are a lot of difficulties you go through in this job. And that was one of them. In any sort of personnel decision that you make, you're always hoping that it works out. There's always some chance that [it doesn't]. Every draft doesn't work out the way you want it to, every player doesn't work out, and injuries can happen -- things like that. You try to make the best decision you can and you move on."
Rodgers didn't exactly win over Packers fans his first season as a starter after sitting for three seasons. He put up some nice numbers -- passing for 4,038 yards and 28 touchdowns -- but the Packers finished 6-10. That's not good enough in Titletown, USA.
Some wondered if maybe there was a reason he sat in the green room on draft day for 24 picks, a torturous scene played out live for all to see.
Maybe he wasn't a winner. When Rodgers again put up big numbers in the 2009 regular season and then lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Arizona Cardinals, that same type of talk ensued.
Few paid attention to the fact that he threw for 422 yards and four touchdowns and led his team to 45 points.
He lost.
This season, the Packers went 10-6 as Rodgers helped keep together a team ravaged by injuries. In the playoffs, the Packers have ripped off three consecutive road victories and Rodgers has been the reason why, passing for 790 yards and six touchdowns against two interceptions.
This is his team now.
"When you step into that role after someone's been there for so long, all those guys having played with Brett for so many years, and you're the new guy, it's hard for anyone to just step in there," Packers receiver Jordy Nelson said. "He was a leader, don't get me wrong. But I think he just became more vocal, more sure about himself. Maybe he's finally gotten our trust, everyone on the team. This is your team, do what you need to do."
Rodgers downplays any replacing-Favre talk. Asked this week if he talked with Favre, he replied, "No."
Asked about his relationship with Favre, Rodgers said, "We had a great relationship, a working relationship, and I enjoyed the time we got to spend together."
A "working relationship" doesn't sound warm and fuzzy, and it wasn't. But Rodgers won't beat up Favre in public. That would be a sin of sorts in the eyes of Packers fans.
When you quarterback a team to a Super Bowl victory in Green Bay, you are given a pass for life. Favre did it and though he's no longer there, he's still revered.
But with every playoff game Rodgers wins, he gains respect and any divide of devotion shrinks. With one more win, it may disappear.
