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In the new SI there is an article about Rodgers and about QB's who have followed a legend. Great quote from the article:

"I don't feel I need to sell myself to fans. They need to get on board now or keep their mouths shut."

I love it.

He has nothing to lose by being cocky. I've voiced my doubts about Tedford coached quarterbacks but I hope he has a great career here. He's studied and practiced hard for 3 years, his teammates like him and so far all of the reports out of the mini camps have been positive. He also has a 13-3 team around him. I don't expect 13-3 again this year (and wouldn't have expected it had Favre returned) but I certainly expect the playoffs.

I don't mind him have that kind of mentality but that is the kind of quote that will absolutely bury him if he turns out to be an average/below average quarterback. It just puts more pressure on him to perform and with all the pressure that he's already inherited you would think he would play it cool at least until he had actually done something.

He's going to have to shut up his detractors with his play on the field. Until then Packer fans have every right to be skeptical about him.

In case you missed it, Rodgers and his latest haircut were on Jim Rome show last Friday.
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/vid ... 8&n8pe6c=3

The Rodgers quote that impressed me most this offseason came from a different Rome interview on radio many weeks back. It's been awhile so I'll have to paraphrase, but when Rodgers was asked about last year's NFC title game and Manning's performance, he also critiqued Favre's performance and called Favre's play "inconsistent". Considering how few Packer fans are willing to acknowledge Favre's uneven playoff performances over the latter half of his career, I thought it was refreshing to hear Rodgers say this.

TheGhostDog wrote:In case you missed it, Rodgers and his latest haircut were on Jim Rome show last Friday.
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/vid ... 8&n8pe6c=3

The Rodgers quote that impressed me most this offseason came from a different Rome interview on radio many weeks back. It's been awhile so I'll have to paraphrase, but when Rodgers was asked about last year's NFC title game and Manning's performance, he also critiqued Favre's performance and called Favre's play "inconsistent". Considering how few Packer fans are willing to acknowledge Favre's uneven playoff performances over the latter half of his career, I thought it was refreshing to hear Rodgers say this.

That is an excellent interview that Aaron did with Rome.
Props for posting that. I feel so good that life after Brett Favre is in pretty good hands. There won't ever be another Brett Favre but Rodgers can do all the throws and knows all the schemes just as well as Favre, plus an advantage with Aaron is he can take off and run when a play breaks down, like Favre used to do in the early 90's. Personality wise he is just as down to earth as Brett while Favre may be more natural and entertaining on camera but I believe Aaron has learned alot from Brett and I think we will see alot of the stuff favre did on the field from Aaron which he picked up from watching. Damn rodgers me of favre more and more. He's going to be a very good QB for years to come and I agree with #12 that the fans do need to get on board, and the haters/doubters can shut their mouths because after his play on the field they will eat their words.

I seriously think Rodgers can have a similar career to Favre's, and that is saying an awful lot!

I'M ON BOARD AARON!!
GO PACKERS!!!

Good for Rodgers, How that guy hasn't gone completely crazy so far is beyond me. We have treated him like a POS Gatorade Cup Filler Upper for the past few seasons and now this Favre stuff again. I really feel bad for the guy, I wish him well although I never see it working out for him in Green Bay

It was such a great quote that he had to basically come out with a statement apologizing for it.

I don't have a problem with it, but a LOT of people did.

But coming out with that pseudo "apology" to the fans took away some of the thunder from his original words.

There are plenty of idiot Packer fans. I've got a lot of relatives who fit the description that because Rodgers doesn't have #4 on his jersey then he's going to be complete crap.

Whatever.

DrugBust wrote:There are plenty of idiot Packer fans. I've got a lot of relatives who fit the description that because Rodgers doesn't have #4 on his jersey then he's going to be complete crap.

Whatever.

Yeah.

I'm still not sold on Rodgers myself (injury bug, blah blah blah), but I don't see why he should be criticized for this quote. The fans, in anything, NEED to see that the kid is ready to step up into the role. And that confidence that he's showing is doing that, at least for me, slowly but surely.

ReddManBogieMan wrote:

TheGhostDog wrote:In case you missed it, Rodgers and his latest haircut were on Jim Rome show last Friday.
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/vid ... 8&n8pe6c=3

The Rodgers quote that impressed me most this offseason came from a different Rome interview on radio many weeks back. It's been awhile so I'll have to paraphrase, but when Rodgers was asked about last year's NFC title game and Manning's performance, he also critiqued Favre's performance and called Favre's play "inconsistent". Considering how few Packer fans are willing to acknowledge Favre's uneven playoff performances over the latter half of his career, I thought it was refreshing to hear Rodgers say this.

That is an excellent interview that Aaron did with Rome.
Props for posting that. I feel so good that life after Brett Favre is in pretty good hands. There won't ever be another Brett Favre but Rodgers can do all the throws and knows all the schemes just as well as Favre, plus an advantage with Aaron is he can take off and run when a play breaks down, like Favre used to do in the early 90's. Personality wise he is just as down to earth as Brett while Favre may be more natural and entertaining on camera but I believe Aaron has learned alot from Brett and I think we will see alot of the stuff favre did on the field from Aaron which he picked up from watching. Damn rodgers me of favre more and more. He's going to be a very good QB for years to come and I agree with #12 that the fans do need to get on board, and the haters/doubters can shut their mouths because after his play on the field they will eat their words.

I seriously think Rodgers can have a similar career to Favre's, and that is saying an awful lot!

I'M ON BOARD AARON!!
GO PACKERS!!!

That's saying an awful lot at this point, as Aaron hasn't shown virtually anything at this point, but I love his optimism and really hope he can step up and have a great career. We could be in for a lot of winning football again if he does.

Aaron got "burned" on Jim Rome's show today for that comment, although Rome ended it by saying he thought Aaron would be fine because he's got the talent and the mentality.

I feel for Aaron, personally. He has done everything this organization has asked him to do and is going way above and beyond to gain the trust of his teammates (the trust that actually matters). He didn't ask to be drafted by the Packers or to take over for arguably the toughest act to follow in sports history.

Rome went on record to say that Rodgers is going to be a 'great' quarterback last week. He came away really impressed from what he saw in his interview last week and said he is going to be very successful. Just food for thought. Rome did say that his comment shouldn't have happened, but still thinks he will be a very good NFL QB.

Rogers seems to be getting a lot of interviews lately. it's interesting i n all this favre " I want to come back " hoopla that neither mccarthy or Thompson have anything to say to or anytime to give to the press. they are letting players like Rogers speak for them. while many have said rogers should not have made some of his comments, I don't see Ted defending or berating his new starting QB for anything he says in reference to Favre.

for those of us who speculate about NBA ping pong balls, it's as if ted wanted favre out of town the day he arrived as GM. he'll never say so publically, but his actions and comments - or lack there of - speak volumes.

MajorDad wrote:Rogers seems to be getting a lot of interviews lately. it's interesting i n all this favre " I want to come back " hoopla that neither mccarthy or Thompson have anything to say to or anytime to give to the press. they are letting players like Rogers speak for them. while many have said rogers should not have made some of his comments, I don't see Ted defending or berating his new starting QB for anything he says in reference to Favre.

for those of us who speculate about NBA ping pong balls, it's as if ted wanted favre out of town the day he arrived as GM. he'll never say so publically, but his actions and comments - or lack there of - speak volumes.

Then why was it reported that TT and MM went to Favre back in 2006 and talked him out of retirement? If he wanted Favre gone then it sounds like all he had to do was keep his mouth shut and Favre would have left with Sherman.

MajorDad wrote:Rogers seems to be getting a lot of interviews lately. it's interesting i n all this favre " I want to come back " hoopla that neither mccarthy or Thompson have anything to say to or anytime to give to the press. they are letting players like Rogers speak for them. while many have said rogers should not have made some of his comments, I don't see Ted defending or berating his new starting QB for anything he says in reference to Favre.

for those of us who speculate about NBA ping pong balls, it's as if ted wanted favre out of town the day he arrived as GM. he'll never say so publically, but his actions and comments - or lack there of - speak volumes.

1. The Green Bay Packers, being one of the most thoroughly covered franchises in professional sports, have a lot of reporters that know their executives and speak with their executives on a fairly regular basis, including Ted Thompson. When these initial reports came out about Favre "getting the itch to play" and Favre's friend going on the radio saying it was all Ted Thompson's fault, almost every member of the media said that they know for a fact that Ted Thompson wanted Brett Favre to come back and play.

My best guess is that Favre felt disrespected by being told to make his decision before the draft so that Thompson could plan accordingly rather than flying down to Mississippi with fruit baskets begging Favre to return.

2. Even IF it IS true that Thompson did not want Favre back, there are executives higher up in the organization that would tell Thompson that he is insane and would override him strictly from a business perspective. Brett Favre isn't still just a damn good quarterback. He's a HUGE cash cow.

I am on board. We got a good rest of the team.

Wade-A-Holic wrote:

MajorDad wrote:Rogers seems to be getting a lot of interviews lately. it's interesting i n all this favre " I want to come back " hoopla that neither mccarthy or Thompson have anything to say to or anytime to give to the press. they are letting players like Rogers speak for them. while many have said rogers should not have made some of his comments, I don't see Ted defending or berating his new starting QB for anything he says in reference to Favre.

for those of us who speculate about NBA ping pong balls, it's as if ted wanted favre out of town the day he arrived as GM. he'll never say so publically, but his actions and comments - or lack there of - speak volumes.

2. Even IF it IS true that Thompson did not want Favre back, there are executives higher up in the organization that would tell Thompson that he is insane and would override him strictly from a business perspective. Brett Favre isn't still just a damn good quarterback. He's a HUGE cash cow.

I sure as hell hope that wouldn't be the case

Regardless how any fan feels about whether the Packers/Thompson wants Favre back or not, if higher ups would overrule Thompson, they may as well just can Ted and put in some puppet GM who's strings they pull.

The most important thing the Packers franchise did in turning around things was hiring a strong GM in Ron Wolf and staying out of his way, letting Wolf make all the important decisions. Now Thompson is in place in that full power role and regardless if some fans like exactly how he's gone about building the roster, the talent on it is much better than what Sherman left for Ted and he made a smart hire with McCarthy.

If those above Thompson were to force him to take back Favre against Ted's wishes, the franchise then is putting a single player above everyone else, including their GM and head coach. This has to be a move left in the hands of the football people, Thompson and McCarthy.

If Favre is traded by them and he plays well elsewhere and Rodgers struggles a lot or stays injury prone, then Ted and McCarthy can deal with the heat and ramifications. If Favre wants to play again, but only as a Packer and Ted/McCarthy say no, followed by Rodgers having a bad year, they then have to deal with the heat they'll get.

It just has to be their call though, that's why a team hires a GM and head coach, to sometimes make tough decisions. Then depending on how the decisions work out, they'll get the just praise or ripping they deserve in a results orientated business.

I agree that sticking their nose into personnel decisions is not the way to go for executives above Ted Thompson, but this is Brett Favre we're talking about. This isn't vetoing a trade for Zach Randolph. I'm not even insinuating that anybody did. I'm just pointing out that I believe it's crazy to believe that Thompson absolutely did not want Favre back.

While I've been the biggest Favre apologist in the past, I think it is absurd that he can, without actually saying anything himself, send his posse of friends and family out to bash Ted Thompson without there being any repercussions. If he wants to play again, he shouldn't allow his posse to be bashing the guy that is ultimately in charge of reinstating him! He's handling this like a stupid child.

Wade-A-Holic wrote:I agree that sticking their nose into personnel decisions is not the way to go for executives above Ted Thompson, but this is Brett Favre we're talking about. This isn't vetoing a trade for Zach Randolph. I'm not even insinuating that anybody did. I'm just pointing out that I believe it's crazy to believe that Thompson absolutely did not want Favre back.

While I've been the biggest Favre apologist in the past, I think it is absurd that he can, without actually saying anything himself, send his posse of friends and family out to bash Ted Thompson without there being any repercussions. If he wants to play again, he shouldn't allow his posse to be bashing the guy that is ultimately in charge of reinstating him! He's handling this like a stupid child.

I'm certainly no mind reader, so i can't claim to know what Ted want prior to the draft. Once Favre retired though, i do think Thompson completely turned the page with Brett and moved on. He believes in Rodgers and handed Aaron the keys after Brett retired and knows that giving Favre the job back at this late point would in effect likely end Rodgers stay here, he'd want out. Plus, i also think that McCarthy really believes in Rodgers and doesn't want to have Aaron gone before getting the chance to prove he's a long term solution at QB.

It doesn't even have to be both Thompson/McCarthy thinking Favre can't keep playing at a high level with yet another birthday candle on the cake. My gut feeling is that Thompson/McCarthy think Rodgers this season could perform at a close enough level of a 39 year old Favre that they'd rather see this happen because then going forward, they have their QB of the future in place if he can stay healthy. I believe in Rodgers more than some here, but obviously no unproven QB is a lock to succeed, particularly that first season as a starter. So Thompson/McCarthy are rolling some dice, if Rodgers struggles or gets hurt and it damages this years team record wise, there is no way around them getting shredded from multiple fronts for pushing away Brett.

Thompson/McCarthy have spent years with Rodgers though, sitting in film rooms and seeing every practice. Fans can't say the same. With so much on the line, i don't buy for a second, Thompson/McCarthy just mainly want Aaron to play because they drafted him in the first round and they want to justify it. They believe he can play QB well for the Packers. We have to trust their evaluation on that given so far, both combined have shown they are skilled at their profession.