The Green Bay Packers are the odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl again this year, and Aaron Rodgers is having yet another MVP caliber season. The Packers are easily the NFL’s most exciting team to watch and they were facing a fellow division leader in the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football. As late as Monday morning and tickets were still available for the bargain-basement price of $75 dollars. That is, until an announcement was made: Brett Favre was on a flight headed to Green Bay. A fervor swept over the state and ticket prices more than doubled. Everybody wanted to see Brett Lorenzo Favre make is heralded return to the Frozen Tundra that is Lambeau Field. To simplify: watching Rodgers make history with unparalleled quarterback play isn’t worth the $75 ticket on a Monday night when it is cold and snowy, but the opportunity to see Favre walk onto the field in jeans is.
Let’s go over the Favre timeline:
April 2005: Aaron Rodgers, Favre’s future successor, is drafted, which Favre detests. Favre famously says it “isn’t my job” to tutor Rodgers, ignoring what was best for the Green Bay Packers.
January 2006: Favre tells Chris Mortensen that “If I had to pick right now and make a decision, I would say I’m not coming back.” This quote comes after Favre throws for 20 touchdowns and 29 interceptions in the 2005 season.
April 2006: Favre announces that he is returning to play for the Packers.
December 2006: Following the season-ending game against the Chicago Bears, Favre cries on the field and says “”If today’s my last game, I want to remember it. It’s tough. It’s tough. I’ll miss these guys, I’ll miss this game.”
February 2007: Favre announces that he is returning to play for the Packers.
March 2008: Favre announces his retirement, stating that he “doesn’t have anything left to give.”
August 2008: Favre unretires and is traded to the New York Jets.
February 2009: Favre announces his retirement, calls this time the “real deal,” and saying “there is no way,” he is playing again.
April 2009: The Jets grant Favre his unconditional release and Favre reiterates he is retired and has “no intention of returning to football.”
August 2009: After a year of trying to find a way onto the Minnesota Vikings football team, Favre signs with the Vikings.
August 2010: Favre retires from the Minnesota Vikings.
August 2010: Favre unretires.
January 2011: Favre retires.
Try and sell that script to a movie producer, I dare you.
Incredibly, years later, Packer fans are putting themselves through the same circus: Favre is returning to Lambeau! Never mind. Favre is coming back during next weeks game! Forget I said anything. Favre is thinking about maybe coming back next season! No, he isn’t. Favre is flying to Green Bay on the same day as a Packers game, this has to be it! No, it’s not.
Aaron Rodgers is better than Brett Favre, plain and simple. Rodgers deserves the unconditional love that we provide Favre with, yet whenever he gets sacked Packer fans nationwide groan, lamenting the idea that he holds onto the ball too much. Do you remember what Favre put us through on the field? Remember the NFC Championship game against the Giants? Remember Aeneas Williams? Remember the 29 interception season? Don’t get me wrong, I do love Brett Favre. Favre helped bring the Packers out of last place. Favre brought hope and joy to a fan-base that hadn’t seen a consistently competitive team since Bart Starr was playing quarterback. Favre re-energized a state and brought the moniker of “Titletown” back to Green Bay.
Rodgers plays football at a whole different level. He dominates the professional game like nobody before him, because when he misses an open target it is honestly astonishing. He makes plays with his arm, and his legs, forcing defensive masterminds like Bill Belichick to leave a linebacker to spy on him, which didn’t work. He hasn’t thrown an interception at home since 2012. His passer rating is the best in NFL history, as is his touchdown to interception ratio. Rodgers will never lose the team a football game, and he often wins them before the 4th quarter even begins. Packer fans expect him to put up 30 points on opposing defenses, and if he doesn’t then that game was a failure offensively.
Rodgers is widely considered the best quarterback of the modern era, having passed contemporaries Tom Brady and Peyton Manning with his flawless play in recent years. You see, Manning throws interceptions and can barely compete in cold weather games. Brady goes through hot and cold streaks like he is a lunch item in a middle school cafeteria. Rodgers is consistently great indoors, outdoors, whether he is playing in the sun, rain or snow.
You see, Brett Favre is a like an ex-girlfriend from college, and it is time we move on. We are not about to go binder on this issue and make it a whole media gong show. If we don’t start treating Rodgers with the respect he deserves we may someday lose him, too. I don’t want to imagine Rodgers wearing navy blue or purple, do you?
