Ok, Ok, Ok... Aaron Rodgers is not as patient as my Mom (and Mom, I'm sorry I ever introduced you to my friend Tyler Davis. That was mean on my part). But he is damn patient. And... he can throw a football better than Mom ever could.
And did I mention he's patient?
After declaring for the NFL Draft following his junior year at California in 2005 (where he holds several school records that WILL NOT be touched for some while), Rodgers was a sure-fire #1 pick. He was ready to resurrect his home-state's troubled franchise, the San Francisco 49ers. And they wanted their hometown boy, Aaron Rodgers.
And on draft day 2005... with the first pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers select... AAAAlex Smith!
Wait, what?
With the second pick, the Miami Dolphins select... Ronnie Brown!
Really?
With the third pick, the Cleveland Browns select... Braylon Edwards!
No, Seriously?
It went on and on. Even my beloved Carolina Panthers, in 14th position, passed on the opportunity to snatch up this pick of a lifetime (we went 2-14 last year, yay). And still, we weren't the last to say we didn't want this future best quarterback in the league. There were still many more snubs.
To make it worse, Rodgers had flown cross country to New York, thinking he'd be the first name called, only to sit in the back room hour upon hour, fielding the same questions of "Are you nervous about where you'll finally get picked?" "Why don't you think you've been picked yet?"
All of the sudden, the best quarterback in college football was the smelly fat kid with glasses, waiting to get picked for dodgeball in gym class.
Credit to Aaron, he handled it like a man does. "What happens, happens. I just want to play for a team that wants me."
Bravo, young lad.
With the 24th pick, the Green Bay Packers select... Aaron Rodgers.
Eeew. I cringed, you cringed, even Aaron cringed a little, though he never showed it.
We all knew that Packers quarterback Brett Favre, probably the best the game has ever seen, would likely play until he was K.I.A. (and it's seeming more and more like that lately). So, this franchise quarterback is now looking at seeing the field as a starter in 2020?
Yet Rodgers didn't balk. He served his time behind Favre, studying, learning, absorbing...
And three years and two playoff appearances later... he's in his first Superbowl, with the NFL's highest All-Time career passer rating no less. The guy throws an interception on less than two percent of his passes. The same can't be said about his idol and predecessor, Favre, who threw nearly as many picks as he did touchdowns.
Aaron Rodgers has bided his time, now it's finally time to get what he truly deserves... besides, Big Ben and the steel curtain need to know what pain feels like because they have several more rings in them down the line.
And when Green Bay wins the Superbowl, maybe they can mold the Lombardi Trophy into a belt for Aaron Rodgers to parade around town, I'd really like to see him finally bring hardware to the celebration.
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