Aaron Rodgers is as good as it gets…in the NFL, and for a very long time in the NFL. Today, I watched Brian 
Baldinger struggle and say that he was running out of superlatives for the Packers’ ball-thrower and bane of opposing defenses everywhere. Baldinger, to his credit, came up with a good one.
“Quarterback savante” he called Rodgers. Not bad. Aaron can pick apart a defense when he is given time in the pocket, and when he is not given time…he makes it. His footwork is precise, his vision is incredible, and his accuracy make a football look like a smart-bomb. But on top of that, he just seems to be one step ahead in the mind game. So it is no wonder that people are trying to categorize that, to name it, to put it in a box. But here’s what I love about Aaron Rodgers…when he gets asked about it, he simply says that the offense works from front to back. “It starts up front” he says, and gives credit to the linemen who put themselves in harm’s way to keep him upright.
If the NFL had its own version of MENSA, Rodgers would be the founder and president. The guy beats astronauts in Jeopardy…wuh? So what should we do with this incessant need to find just the right, single word to describe our beloved quarterback? We could embrace it…and say that yes, Aaron Rodgers is a quarterback savante. We could try to outdo it by finding a better or more creative way to say the same thing.
- the “Uber baller”
- the “Godfather”
- Aaron “Ung-Yong” Rodgers
But none of those have the ring to it that Baldinger’s “quarterback savante” has.
To me, it doesn’t matter. To me there is only ONE word that I want to use to describe Aaron Rodgers. There is only one word that I believe Aaron cares about being described by. ONE word to rule them all, ONE word to find them…ONE word to bring them all and in the bright lights bind them. And that ONE word is…
CHAMPION
Aaron Rodgers has been close many times in a league where it is very difficult to win one championship, much less multiple ones. At the same time he has carried the name champion before and tasted the victory of victories that defines the best of the best. He has chiseled his name on the mountain of legends and only the taste of that glory will ever suffice for himself, his team and coaches…and, I believe for all of Packernation.
We have to wait and see because there is still much more football to come. But for me, only one word will do. And all the superlatives in the meantime serve only to bolster my hope that the ONE word that cannot yet be uttered…well be unveiled in due time.