Rodgers the perfect rebound relationship for Packers
Jan 26, 2011, 9:23 PM | Updated: 9:36 pm
Aaron Rodgers has gone where so many have tried and failed, and I’m not talking about taking his team to Super Bowl XLV.
I’m talking about making a name for himself.
I’m talking about stopping the comparisons always leaving him coming in on the negative front.
I’m talking about the non-stop conversation of … “he’s good but he’s no…”
I’m talking about replacing a QB the city is in love with and getting them to be in love with you instead.
Yes, I’m talking about Aaron Rodgers making Cheeseheads move on from their love, Brett Favre.
Not many quarterbacks have been able to do what Rodgers has done, especially this quickly.
Great quarterbacks are so few and far between it’s usually unfair for the next QB, or the next QB, or the QB after that.
Let’s take a look around the landscape.
Dallas, Denver and Miami to name a few.
Dallas is still looking for their next Troy Aikman; until Tony Romo actually wins in January they won’t really be in love with him (teenage girls excluded).
Denver has had a few they thought could get them where John Elway took them. Brian Griese and Jake Plummer had mild success in the Mile High City. Jay Cutler lasted three years and didn’t make it to shake the hand of his second coach. Elway still owns the city. Now, he’s calling the shots for the team. Yeah, good luck Tim Tebow.
Miami is different than the others (and more comparable to the Cardinals from a winning Super Bowls standpoint). Dan Marino never won The Big One, but I don’t think it matters. They continue to go season after season with mediocre-at-best quarterback play. Since Marino retired after the 1999 season the Dolphins have had 13 signal callers. Not a Dan Marino amongst them.
Now, we get to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Valley Looooooooooves Kurt Warner. Most of it has to do with how he performed inside the lines, but who he is and what he does outside the lines is keeping this city’s love affair going.
Kurt Warner was only in Cardinal colors for five years.
FIVE YEARS?
How many people only remember two of those and conveniently forget the first three?
My guess is many.
It may as well be said that he won multiple Super Bowls, not multiple NFC West crowns.
Whoever was going to start under center for the Cardinals this season was stuck between a rock and hard place, we all knew that.
The problem is the Cardinals went through FIVE quarterbacks and will be searching for their SIXTH.
THE GUY RETIRED 12 MONTHS AGO.
Is the next Aaron Rodgers going to be shaking Roger Goodell’s hand and throwing a Cardinals baseball cap on come April?
No one knows — and we may not know for a few years — but on track record alone it’s quite unlikely.
The Aaron Rodgers’ of the world don’t come around often. Cheesehead Nation got lucky.
Win or lose Super Bowl XLV, Rodgers will be loved by his city and at age 27 they can only think (and rightfully so) there are many successful seasons ahead.
Green Bay goes from Favre to Rodgers. That’s it. No one else since 1992.
Major props go to Rodgers and the Green Bay personnel department. Combined they have saved their fan base and city what could have been years of suffering and heartache (see Dallas, Denver and Miami).
Following a quarterback the city is in love with is just not something you succeed at. The aforementioned teams are still searching and it’s been a decade plus for them.
It took Phoenix 24 months to fall in love with Kurt Warner. Here’s wondering if it’ll take 24 years to fall in love with the next QB.
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TY’s Outtakes
What I learned this week…
Follow me on this one. An NFL roster can suit 45 players on gameday. Their 46th player can be a third QB. If that QB enters the game in the fourth quarter then you have to deactivate one of your other QB’s. What I didn’t realize — and they won’t admit it but I don’t think the Chicago Bears with four at one time head coaches on their staff did either — is that if you bring in that QB before the start of the fourth quarter then you have deactivated your other two QB’s.
This week my learning just turns into another question. Why did the Bears bring in Caleb Hanie with a minute left in the third quarter instead of waiting for the start of the fourth? Only logical answer I can come up with is if both Jay Cutler and Todd Collins were ruled out under any circumstances. Which, with Jay Cutler we may never know.
Tweet of the week…
From @JimmyTraina: Very nice. RT @daddioraddio @JimmyTraina Time for a God D#%n snack http://plixi.com/p/72022182
I’m going to miss the Jets from an entertainment perspective.
Also,
From @FunKaty620: thx 2 the suggestion of @Tyler_Bassett, this is what i’m working on b4 football 2day: http://bit.ly/fmqFNN
They turned out sooo good. I was impressed. http://yfrog.com/h5tiflzeftwbafj
Suggestion of the week…
Have you ever wondered how an island forms? Have you ever seen the creation of an island?
Maybe I’m getting tricked but they say that’s what this is. I thought it was fascinating.
