More than just another game.
The coaches might say it is just another game. It is not.
When Aaron Rodgers steps out as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers to face the Green Bay Packers for the first time, it will mark one of the most emotional reunions in recent NFL history.
For 15 years, Rodgers was the Packers: their identity, their heartbeat, their constant through change.
This Sunday, he lines up against the team that made him, the team he defined, and the fans who still adore him.
From the draft room to the dynasty
It is easy to forget that Rodgers’ story began in disappointment.
Back in 2005, the California Golden Bears quarterback – once tipped to be the number one overall pick – sat in the green room for hours as team after team passed him by.
His hometown San Francisco 49ers passed on him for the first overall pick, choosing Alex Smith instead. Cameras lingered on his face as the humiliation built, until finally, with the 24th pick, the Green Bay Packers called his name.
The selection stunned everyone. The Packers already had Brett Favre, a three-time MVP and future Hall of Famer. But Rodgers waited. For three long years, he studied, learned, and prepared. When his moment came, he seized it – and never looked back.
In 2011, Rodgers led the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XLV – fittingly against the Steelers – throwing for over 300 yards and earning the game’s MVP award. That night in Arlington confirmed what many already knew – Aaron Rodgers was special.
Moments of magic
There are few, if any, quarterbacks in NFL history who could do what Rodgers could.
The precision, calm and impossible throws that seemed effortless. Opposition defenses always knew – you cannot let him escape the pocket. His accuracy on the move was elite. How many quarterbacks could flick the ball 40 yards so effortlessly without setting their feet?
The Hail Marys in Detroit and Arizona. That game-winning drive in Dallas. The countless fourth-quarter comebacks. His numbers tell only part of the story – 59,055 yards, 475 touchdowns, and only 105 interceptions. But it is how he did it that set him apart.
Rodgers’ arm talent was almost unmatched – his release lightning quick, his ball placement surgical, his ability to protect the football legendary.
Teammates have often said he made the game look easy. He rarely did anything ordinary.
History repeats
History repeated itself in 2020 when Green Bay drafted Utah State quarterback Jordan Love with the 26th overall pick. The reaction was the same – disbelief.
Rodgers responded in the only way he knew how, by winning back-to-back MVP awards.
Still, time catches up with everyone. His final season in Green Bay ended with a losing record, and after years of speculation, both sides decided to move on. Yet the parallels between Favre and Rodgers – and now Rodgers and Love – are remarkable.
Like Favre before him, Rodgers gave everything to the franchise. Like Favre, he leaves with only one Super Bowl ring – a statistic that will forever feel like a crime considering his brilliance.
My quarterback
I began following the Packers at the tail end of the Favre era, so Aaron Rodgers has always been my quarterback. He was the reason I stayed up late on Sunday nights, the reason I fell in love with the sport.
It will be strange, and a little painful, to see him on the opposite side-line this weekend.
It is a shame the game is not at Lambeau Field, where he could have received the ovation he deserves. For all the talk from coaches about treating it as any other matchup, everyone knows it is not. This is Aaron Rodgers vs the Green Bay Packers.
I have no doubt Rodgers will see this as a revenge game, even if he will never say so.
Somewhere deep down, he will remember how the Packers drafted his replacement before his time was done. That kind of slight does not fade easily and characters like Rodgers never need much to find motivation. Let us not forget, winning this game means he has defeated all 32 NFL teams.
I always want Rodgers to do well. He is my all-time favourite player and one of the best to ever play the position.
But this week, for once, I hope the man who gave me so many great nights walks off second-best watching his former coaches and teammates celebrating.
The match-up
It will not be easy for him.
Rodgers will face a ferocious Packers pass rush led by Micah Parsons and Rashan Gary, who have terrorised offensive lines all season. But he will take confidence from how Dak Prescott and Jacoby Brissett both found success through the air against Green Bay’s cornerbacks.
As for the Packers, sitting at 4-1-1 and top of the NFC, they know that beating Rodgers would mean more than just another win.
It would be a statement – that the future belongs to Jordan Love, and that the torch has finally, definitively, been passed.
Legacy
No matter the result, Aaron Rodgers will always be a Green Bay Packer in spirit. His name belongs among the greats – Bart Starr, Brett Favre, and the long list of Packers legends will soon contain his name.
He changed how we see quarterback play. He made the impossible look routine.
So yes, the coaches can say it is just another game. But for those of us who grew up watching Number 12, it is much more than that.
It is gratitude. It is nostalgia. And it is goodbye.
