Aaron Rodgers has put together one of the greatest careers in NFL history. At least from a pure numbers perspective. Nobody disputes the Green Bay Packers legend will end up in the Hall of Fame five years after he retires. His 4.82-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio may never be matched again. Easily the most accurate thrower of a football there has ever been. Yet despite all of that, questions of his legacy linger on.
Rodgers started his career strong. After three years waiting behind Brett Favre, the former kid who dropped from #1 overall favorite all the way to 24th in 2005, led his team to a Super Bowl title in 2010. Experts at the time were convinced this was the start of a dynasty for Green Bay. Nobody was going to stop them from owning the NFC for the next decade. Well, that decade has come and gone.
There was no dynasty.
The Packers haven’t even made it back to the Super Bowl since that triumph in 2010. Despite making the playoffs ten times since their initial defense, the team has come up short every single time. That includes four losses in the NFC championship game. Most of that time, nobody questioned whether Rodgers was the problem. It was always something else: a bad defense, dumb coaching decision, or special teams gaffe.
That changed after the San Francisco 49ers stunned the Packers at Lambeau Field in the divisional round two months ago. Rodgers threw for just 225 yards and no touchdowns. His offense scored a meager 10 points, allowing Jimmy Garoppolo and Robbie Gould to send him home early yet again. This has led many to question if Rodgers is little more than another Dan Marino. Great in the regular season but too often came up small in the playoffs.
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Nothing hammered this home better than when Greg Auman asked a 2022 draft prospect of The Athletic which QB he’d want in the final minute of a game needing a touchdown.
In the end, Mahomes emerged as the winner, riding a late flurry to finish with 20 votes (40 percent), while Rodgers finished with 16 (32 percent), well ahead of the rest of the field. Not all the votes were wholehearted endorsements, as one player hedged his vote by saying, “I guess in the regular season, I’d have to say Aaron Rodgers.”
Ouch.
It is incredible how such a simple comment can contain such a scorching burn. Yet that is where Aaron Rodgers finds himself. Still an all-time great. One of the best to ever play. However, it is difficult to sell him when put against names like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Joe Montana because those guys got it done when the stakes were the highest. Even Brett Favre managed to reach a second Super Bowl. That is where the man finds himself.
