Stepping out!!

It's never easy being the man who takes over from the man.  You've got someone who comes to a team, does his thing and becomes a legend during his time.  The front office loves him, the fans adore him.  Then comes the time when he has to leave the stage.  Soooo, the next person coming in has to match, if not exceed the performance of the guy before him?  C'mon man.

Denver is still waiting for the next John Elway.  Miami is still waiting for the next Dan Marino.  Danny White, despite posting good numbers and leading Dallas to the playoffs, earned the nickname "The quarterback after Roger" (Staubach).  Quick!!  A show of hands if anybody knows who Cliff Stoudt is.  For the record, he's the guy who took over from Terry Bradshaw.  Even Steve Young had live in the shadow of Joe Montana, before finally stepping out after Super Bowl XXIX.  Truth is, it's just not easy.

Aaron Rodgers was considered to be a possible 1st overall pick during the 2005 NFL Draft.  San Francisco held the pick, but opted for Alex Smith instead.  I kind of wonder how that's working out for them now.  Rodgers endured a painstaking 4½ hour wait in the green room, before Green Bay picked him up with the 24^th pick.  It was widely believed that he would be the man to succeed Brett Favre when he eventually decided to retire (I still don't think he will).

One can only wonder what Favre is thinking

Everyone including Rodgers seemed to be thrilled at the thought of being mentored by Brett Favre.  Think about it, in the post-Lombardi era, there was no bigger icon in Green Bay than Brett Favre (well, maybe Reggie White, but you know what I mean).  The opportunity to learn from one of the game's greats would be priceless.  Turns out Favre was anything but thrilled about this "opportunity", saying he wasn't being paid to mentor the kid.

Fast forward to a few years later.  Favre "finally" decides to "retire", then somewhere along the way, changes his minds and returns to training camp wanting to reclaim his job.  Mike McCarthy proved he had what it took to make the tough call by saying "no" to Favre, signalling that the Packers were ready to move on with Rodgers at the helm.  Favre ended up being traded to the New York Jets and would eventually wind up the rival Vikings.


Beating Favre was a huge step in Rodgers progress
toward becoming his own man.

If all it took was a Super Bowl win for Rodgers to completely step out of Brett Favre's shadow, then consider this "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!"  The weight of Favre's legacy has been lifted off his shoulders; there is a new sheriff in town.  Whatever debt Green Bay owed to Brett Favre has been "paid in full".  Rodgers was arguably the best quarterback in the postseason.

Bart Starr still remains the greatest quarterback in franchise history; thanks to a 9-1 record in the post-season, his only loss coming against the Eagles in Philly (a place where Rodgers has already succeeded, and Favre didn't).  Luckily for Rodgers, he's not being compared to Starr, which is a good thing, because should he keep playing the way he is, he will in all likelihood break EVERY post-season franchise record.

Not bad for a guy who wasn't even recruited out of high school, and almost slipped into the second round because teams passed on him.