Taking over for a legend

I’m going to do something unusual here and actually blog about sports — more specifically American football. It has never been a secret that I’m a Green Bay Packers-fan (or Pack-man if you will) and tonight was their first regular season game since Sep. 20, 1992 without legendary quarterback Brett Favre in the starting line-up. (Favre is now starting QB for the New York Jets, more about the trade at Wikipedia) There has been a lot of talk about Aaron Rodgers, who has taken over after Favre, and whether or not he can handle the pressure and the high expectations.

Now, the pressure and expectations are hard enough to cope with and Rodgers handles it extremely well, but constantly being compared to what may well be the best QB ever in the history of NFL is downright unfair and totally illogical.

Watching Favre play football was like watching an artist creating a master-piece; art in real-time. Extending that analogy further, who would you prefer to see painting a Picasso — Picasso or Kvium? Rodgers is taking over after Favre and he is not supposed to be Favre or even play like Favre. Even though it is tempting to think, “Favre would have converted that 3rd and 33″, I don’t think that is the way to look at it. Sure, Favre would probably have been more likely to convert it; more likely than any other QB in the entire league!

From what I saw Rodgers deliver tonight against Minnesota Vikings, it seems that he has definitely learned a lot from Favre, but also sets himself aside from Favre in that he is willing to actually run the ball if there are no open receivers or simply if the opportunity presents itself and seems viable. Favre’s influence was definitely visible at his first touchdown pass, which was great to see — there is nothing wrong with learning from the best — but I was relieved to find that he was not trying to be Favre or play like him.

The Packers have a great QB in Rodgers and it was nice to see that they had enough confidence in him to line up with 4 receivers, leaving Rodgers somewhat more vulnerable to a sack (of which they gave up exactly zero mostly thanks to the offensive linemen). Leading the Pack to a 24–19 victory over division rivals Vikings (in spite of 118 penalty yards against them) is a pretty impressive beginning and I am confident that Rodgers and the rest of the team can take on the rest of NFC North and make the playoffs. One thing though… If I was Rodgers, I would practice that Lambeau Leap some more, I am sure it will not be in vain.