The Praise for Aaron Rodgers Continues

Posted by Ryan on December 2, 2011   Jump To Comments

On this, the 28th anniversary of the birth of our valiant leader Aaron Rodgers, yet another piece about his historically brilliant season (I’ve read so many over the past month that I’ve lost count) was penned. This one came from Mike Tanier, a writer at the inimitable Football Outsiders, on the New York Times Fifth Down blog. If you don’t click through, you probably hate puppies.

Every word is smile-inducing but this paragraph was particularly enjoyable:

Rodgers is having a historic season by every possible measure, including the kinds of high-tech statistics that are designed to adjust for historic eras, schedule strength and other variables. In the statistic known as DVOA used by the Web site Football Outsiders, Rodgers’s current season ranks below Manning’s in 2004 and Brady’s in 2007 but above the best seasons by Young and Warner. When using Pro Football Reference’s adjusted-net-yards-per-attempt statistic, the season ranks just below Manning’s in 2004 and above Dan Marino’s 5,084-yard season in 1984. Under the circumstances, praise for Rodgers seems somewhat faint: calling this season M.V.P.-caliber is a little like calling a “Mona Lisa” exhibition worthy.

Pieces like this remind us of how lucky we truly are to be watching this team with these players with this quarterback with this coaching staff with this front office. Aaron Rodgers is playing at a historically brilliant level but he doesn’t do it without the help of everyone else in the Packers organization. We are watching a team that has already won a Super Bowl and has a window of opportunity to sustain greatness for a decade.

They have not done it yet but they certainly have the potential to match the legacy of the Lombardi Packers. There is a chance that we will one day speak to our children about Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson and Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews and Donald Driver the way our fathers and grandfathers speak of Bart Starr and Vince Lombardi and Jerry Kramer and Ray Nitschke and Paul Hornung.

It is NOT a forgone conclusion. In 1997, the above paragraph could have been written about the Brett Favre, Reggie White, Mike Holmgren, and Ron Wolf Packers. That team also won a Super Bowl and will undoubtedly be remembered fondly for years to come but its potential for historical greatness unfortunately did not come to fruition.

At this moment in time, though, we need to realize how lucky we are right now. This all may have only just begun.

Ryan Glasspiegel writes Sports Rapport. Follow him on Twitter @RGSpiegel.