Rodgers remains face of Green Bay Packers

The legend of Aaron Rodgers continues to grow.

The successor to Brett Favre has lived up to the hype since being drafted in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft and taking over as the Green Bay Packers starting quarterback in 2008, leading to the organization to a Super Bowl win in the 2010-11 season and collecting two Most Valuable Player awards (2011-12 and 2014-15).

Just when people thought the future hall-of-famer might be declining, Rodgers has responded with one of the best seasons of his career and is in the MVP discussion again.

“I will say that this is as good as I’ve ever seen anybody play. Just his ability to go out there and get us in the right looks, and shoot, even when I make a bad call, he definitely makes us look good. That’s a credit to him,” said Packers second-year coach Matt LaFleur of Rodgers after the blowout win over the Chicago Bears.

“He is playing, in my eyes, he’s an MVP player, no doubt about it and I wouldn’t want any other quarterback on our football team.”

Through 11 games, Rodgers has passed for 3,100 yards and 33 touchdowns while throwing just four interceptions. His completion percentage of 68.5 is the highest its been since he became the starter and his quarterback rating of 117.6 trails only his mark of 122.5 in his 2011-12 MVP season. His touchdown pass and quarterback rating marks are the best in the league this season.

Along with guiding the team to an 8-3 start and a commanding three-game lead in the NFC North, Rodgers also appears to still have plenty of pull within the organization.

After losing to the Minnesota Vikings and nearly being upset by the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars at home, Rodgers was asked at his Nov. 25 media availability about what needed to happen to create more of a home field advantage at Lambeau Field. The veteran quarterback lobbied for the team to play songs like “Roll Out the Barrel” and for the beer bottle races to be shown on the field’s scoreboards.

When the Packers hosted a few hundred fans during the most recent game against the Bears, Rodgers got his wish, as both items were part of the gameday experience.

The quarterback also gave fans a treat with his play on the field, throwing four touchdowns in a game for the fifth time already this season. He only has three games in which he’s thrown less than three touchdowns.

Many fans and analysts tried to write Rodgers off after the past two seasons, even though his touchdown-to-interception ratio those two years was 51-6.

The Packers’ organization didn’t write him off, but they didn’t do much in the most recent offseason to help Rodgers out either, passing on a potential weapon in the passing game to select quarterback Jordan Love instead in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

It’s a situation Rodgers was familiar with, as he too was drafted with Hall-of-Famer Favre still on the roster.

The Love pick was a puzzling move at the time, and now looks even more like a wasted pick as Rodgers, who turned 37 on Wednesday, looks to have plenty left in the tank and is still signed through the 2023 season. Maybe the Packers will let Rodgers walk when his contract is up, but if he continues to take care of the ball and lead the team to winning seasons, I’d be shocked if they turn the reins over to Love or any other quarterback.

While Rodgers has never been against adding more receivers or pass-catchers to the team, he also hasn’t let it affect his play either.

Coming into the season, not many non-Packers fans could have named options in the team’s passing game outside standout wide receiver Davante Adams. Now, names like Robert Tonyan, Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling are known across the country. That’s a credit to No. 12.

Many believed the clock on Rodgers’ time left in Green Bay seemed to be dwindling down quickly when this season started, but it appears the quarterback has hit the pause button and has maybe started some second guessing within the organization.

Morgan Rode is the sports editor for NEW Media. Readers can contact him at sports@newmedia-wi.com.