For the last three years the national sports media circus has parked its tent smack dab in the middle of Green Bay and let its clowns run wild. Controversy for clicks has been the game and everyone with a microphone or camera has been playing it.
“Is this Aaron Rodgers last year?” “Are the wide receivers going to cost this team and Aaron a chance at a Super Bowl?” “How long until Aaron snaps and becomes disgruntled because of the lack of talent around him?” And on and on they go, honking their horns and riding their tiny bicycles.
Never mind the facts. That Aaron Rodgers just signed a huge deal. That Rogers and the front office are in sync and growing an extremely healthy relationship. That this is a dominant roster that should definitely contend. None of that sells ad space.
I’m not saying the Packers front office and Aaron Rodgers don’t have some part in the negative attention the team has received the last few years. I’m not even saying a small part of it wasn’t valid. What I’m saying is it’s gotten so out of control that the national pundits can’t see past their desire for controversy to find some of the truly better storylines.
Maybe the best angle everyone’s missing is what 2022 could mean for Rodgers’ legacy.
What if Rodgers wins another MVP and the Packers win the Super Bowl? What does that do to the all-time quarterback conversation?What does that do for Rodgers place in history?
And those aren’t crazy, Packers homer questions. This is a well coached team with high end talent that is currently third in odds to win the Super Bowl and Rodgers has proven he is still at the very tip top of his game.
Over 25,000 men have played in the NFL since its inception. Only four, besides Rodgers, have won back to back MVPs; Jim Brown, Joe Montana, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning(twice). Of those four only Favre has won 3 consecutive. But Favre’s third was shared as co-MVP with Barry Sanders.
Peyton Manning has won the most total MVPs in league history with five.
If Rogers puts together another MVP campaign in 2022, he will be the only sole three-peat winner of the award and would tie Manning for the most all-time. And he’d do so while having played 3 less seasons than Manning.
If he then caps an MVP season off with a Super Bowl title he would only be behind all Brady, Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman in all time Super Bowl wins. And at 38, which is no longer the age it used to be for NFL quarterbacks, the latter three could potentially be in reach.
The GOAT conversation, as it pertains to quarterbacks, used to be more of an open discussion. Back in the days before Tom Brady went and won an extra four Super Bowls or so. Nowadays it’s Brady and the rest. A stellar season with the ultimate accomplishments could easily separate Rodgers from the rest and could potentially restart the Brady vs Rogers debate.
It might seem laughable given Brady’s resume but it’s not as laughable as you think. One could easily argue although clearly one of the greatest to ever play the sport, Tom Brady has been gifted the greatest coach in league history and a never ending wheel of roster weapons. Although Rogers has had some nice names alongside when you put the lists next to one another and then realize Green Bay literally hasn’t drafted a wide receiver in the first round in 20 years it’s not much of a comparison. If you had stuck Tom Brady in the cheese state with Mike McCarthy as his head coach I’m certain he still would’ve wound up a Hall of Famer but I don’t know if he’d be wearing so many Super Bowl rings that his hands would start to cramp.
Aaron Rodgers might quite simply be the most gifted quarterback to ever step on a field. We’ve never seen someone with footwork and mobility like he has combine it with other world arm strength and accuracy like he’s done. And it’s all tied to a brilliant football mind and decision making process. A perfect season could launch this reality back into our mainstream football conversations.
Not to mention, what if he does all this with Allen Lazard as his top target? Come on? You’d have to build him a statue immediately.
So if ESPN, Fox sports and every nobody with a blue check mark want to keep droning on about a potential disaster that will likely never happen, they can go right ahead. I will be spending my time focused on the potential. The what if. The insane history making magic that might be right around the corner. This could be a league history defining season for one of the NFL’s greatest franchises and their future Hall of Fame quarterback. That’s where our energy belongs. Go Pack Go.
