Aaron Rodgers is one of the Greatest Quarterbacks of All Time
Image courtesy of The Greenbay Packers.
October 7, 2020
This is an opinion piece by Carolyn Malman who is a junior at Mendham High School. This article does not necessarily reflect the ideas of the MHS Patriot or Mendham High School.
Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Brett Favre, John Elway, Dan Marino, Johnny Unitas, and Tom Brady. This makes up the list of the greatest quarterbacks in history. Sometimes, however, an important name is forgotten from this list. Aaron Rodgers. He has two MVP titles, the best passer rating in history, and is an all-around amazing football player.
Rodgers is one of the greatest players of all time, for he is one of the best statistical quarterbacks ever. According to The Bleacher Report, Rodgers is in the top five for all of the major quarterback statistical rankings. He is even number one in his passer rating and adjusted YPA(yards per attempt). Compared to Tom Brady, quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whose passer rating is about 96.9, Aaron Rodgers dominates this with his passer rating of 106.0. This is almost a full 10 points greater than Tom Brady who most people would consider the GOAT (Greatest of All Time). Clearly, Aaron Rodgers deserves a better evaluation as he is as good, if not better than the quarterback who is currently deemed to be the best. Just looking at Rodger’s statistics, one can tell that he deserves to be considered as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
Aside from statistics, Rodgers’ two MVP titles, two-time all pro, and eight pro-bowl appearances prove that he has some of the best skill, arm strength, and he is extremely smart in combating defenses. He has had many successful seasons since he was drafted to the Greenbay Packers in 2005. He led the Packers to win their fourth Lombardi trophy in 2011 and had many other successful seasons. Though these seasons did not end with winning the Super Bowl, Rodgers still carried many Packers teams to winning seasons. The Packers have won their division (The NFC North) the most out of the other division members (Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, and the Detroit Lions) since Aaron Rodgers has been on the team (NationalChamps.net). Therefore, although they did not win the Super Bowl, these Packers teams with Aaron Rodgers had very successful winning seasons which ended in them winning their extremely difficult NFC North Division. Compared to Tom Brady, Rodgers’ game tapes are much more advanced. Brady is seen not moving in the pocket, making bad passes(those that his team makes up for), and not making clutch game time decisions. Rodgers is mobile and is able to get away from traffic if necessary. He also has made clutch decisions to seal the Packers a win. For example, in the game against the Lions in 2015, Rodgers threw a perfect 61-yard ball to his teammate in the endzone to win the game. Rodgers can be observed to make clutch mental decisions, however, Brady does not have the mental strength. Ultimately, Rodgers is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time based on his mental and physical ability, which resulted in many winning seasons with the Packers.
The greatness of one person is not determined by championships, however, some people use this characteristic to define someone’s greatness. However, the measure of a quarterback is typically determined by their passer rating. On that basis, Aaron Rodgers towers over his competition by almost 10 points. Since this is the statistic used for determining the talent of a quarterback, Aaron Rodgers should be considered as good if not better than other quarterbacks who are currently considered the greatest of all time. Titles show the measure of the entire team’s greatness, and not simply a player’s talent. Therefore, when looking at Tom Brady, he has become “the first player in NFL history to win six Super Bowl Champions” (Biography.com). There is no doubt that this is a wonderful achievement for Brady, however, his ranking as one of the best quarterbacks should not be based on this. The entire team that he won with contributed to the Super Bowl wins. Brady did not “carry” his team to victory, for if it was all up to Brady, he would not have the mental strength to succeed in winning by himself.
In conclusion, it is obvious that Rodgers deserves a better ranking amongst other greatest quarterbacks of all time. Especially against Tom Brady, who most people view as the GOAT, Aaron Rodgers should be at least considered as at the same level as him, if not better. On the terms of skill, statistics, and overall knowledge of the play, Rodgers should be considered as one of the best quarterbacks of all time. If not one of the greatest, then THE greatest of all time.
