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The NFL Super Bowl is arguably the biggest stage in all of sports. Millions of people all over the world watch the two top-rated football teams battle it out for the championship title. Many men have succumbed to the pressure and the spotlight, but not the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers. He proved his greatness as an NFL quarterback and as a man in Super Bowl XLV.
For the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the road to becoming Super Bowl champion and MVP was paved with speed bumps, stoplights, and sharp curves. On the field, football fans know Rodgers for his cannon of a throwing arm, his highlight-reel touchdowns, and his poise under pressure, but it’s his off-the-field attitude and work ethic that make Rodgers the man he is.
Rodgers grew up playing football at Pleasant Valley High School in Chico, California, where he made a name for himself by setting single-season records as the starting quarterback. But as a senior, Rodgers stood only five foot ten and weighed 165 pounds—far too small for Division I college quarterbacks. In fact, Rodgers got only one Division I offer and it was as a walk on, so he decided to attend Butte Community College.
In his freshman year, Rodgers threw an incredible twenty-eight touchdowns while leading Butte to a 10–1 record and a NorCal Conference championship. With this newfound attention, he transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, where he led Cal to a bowl game victory and a top-five ranking nationwide. Rodgers decided to forgo his senior year at Cal and entered the NFL draft.
Rodgers was rated one of the best quarterbacks in the nation and widely regarded as a potential number one pick overall in the NFL draft. Things didn’t go as planned for Rodgers, however, and he slipped all the way to the Packers with the twenty-fourth pick—a huge disappointment for such a highly touted prospect.
Starting at quarterback for the Packers was the great Brett Favre, so Rodgers spent the 2005–2007 seasons on the Packers’ bench, only seeing playing time if Favre got hurt. Nevertheless, Rodgers never complained, worked hard, and waited patiently for his chance. In 2008, Favre announced his retirement and Rodgers stepped in as the starting quarterback.
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Once again things didn’t go as planned for Rodgers. Favre decided to return from retirement in the 2008 season and expected his starting job back. In what became a tense and ugly war of words between Favre and the Packers’ organization, Favre was eventually traded to the New York Jets and the reins were officially handed to Rodgers. Despite Favre’s antics and the pressure of replacing a Hall of Fame quarterback, Rodgers held his tongue, remained supportive of the organization, and never once lashed out.
After finishing 13–3 in 2007, the spotlight was on Rodgers in 2008. He played well, but the Packers finished a measly 6–10 and did not qualify for the playoffs. Skeptics wondered if the Packers had made a huge mistake by keeping Rodgers and letting Favre go. In 2009, Rodgers came back and answered his critics by leading the Packers to an 11–5 season and a playoff berth. In his first playoff game, Rodgers threw an amazing four touchdowns and passed over 400 yards, but fumbled in overtime to lose the game. His critics were back louder than ever.
In 2010, Rodgers rebounded again and came back better than ever, leading the Packers to the Super Bowl. It was the biggest game of his life, the moment that Rodgers had worked so hard for, and once again things started to go wrong. It must have felt all too familiar to Rodgers. This time his own teammates turned on him and started dropping passes—five perfect passes that could have sealed the game.
With the Super Bowl on the line and the Pittsburgh Steelers trying to make one of the greatest comebacks ever, Rodgers zipped a spiral to his wide receiver Jordy Nelson. Had Nelson caught the ball, the game would have been over, but he dropped another wide-open pass. Did Rodgers loose his cool? Did he scream and yell at his receivers? No, he ignored the drops, the pressure, and the critics, and he got back in the huddle and kept working. Remarkably, Rodgers threw the very next pass right back at Nelson, and this time Nelson caught the ball for a huge first down.
Two plays later the Packers scored another touchdown and the game was out of reach for the Steelers. After the game ESPN’s Rick Reilly, recalling Rodgers’s throwing again to Nelson after he had dropped a crucial pass, captured Rodgers’ persona perfectly. He said, “To err is human, to forgive divine. But to forgive in the Super Bowl—is even better.”