The Transformation Of Aaron Rodgers

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:42 am

Good article by Bob McGinn which details the transformation Rodgers made from being worthless his first few seasons to the All-Pro he's become today. I've talked before about how bad Rodgers was in his first few seasons and this article points that out as well. His preaseason appearances were a disaster and he had major durability issues. That's why there were legitimate questions about whether he could step in and effectively replace Favre when he took over.

To Rodgers' credit, he worked extremely hard, learned a lot from Favre and was well-coached by McCarthy and the Packers' staff. All of that combined to transform him into an elite NFL quarterback.

I don't think there's any question that Rodgers benefited from going to Green Bay and not having to start right away. He clearly wasn't ready. Had he gone No. 1 to the 49ers as many expected that year, he very well may have been a bust like Alex Smith has generally been.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/136856133.html

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 4:03 am

By the way, I like Rodgers a lot but those "Discount Double Check" All State commercials are terrible. Peyton Manning needs to get healthy quickly. His commercials are outstanding.

Sandman62 · Post by **Sandman62** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 7:33 am

"Cut that meat!"

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 8:41 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
By the way, I like Rodgers a lot but those "Discount Double Check" All State commercials are terrible. Peyton Manning needs to get healthy quickly. His commercials are outstanding. C'mon, you sound like an old fart here.

All the kids are doing the "Discount Double Check." I can't go to a single youth basketball game without seeing some kid scoring a basket and running down the court doing the "Discount Double Check." State Farm is lovin' this.

By the way, that was an excellent story by Hall of Fame writer Bob McGinn. Only McGinn would still have notes lying around with quotes from scouts about how they ranked him vs. Brady Quinn coming out of the draft. Good stuff.

I wish he had gone into more detail, though, on how Rodgers transformed himself during that year he went from Favre's backup to starting QB. I know it was the QB camp during the off-season and reps, reps, reps, but it's like someone else jumped into that uniform. He obviously became very committed in his workout routine, improving his arm strength and watching film because like McGinn said you just didn't see this coming in 2007. Kudos to Rodgers for working so hard to become the very best at his position.

JAHNS5 · Post by **JAHNS5** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:19 am

State Farm commercials with Rodgers are awesome.....It has kids in Wisconsin having a great time with it....HEY RODGERS!!! JUST GOT DOUBLE CHECK!!! HILARIOUS!!

bald is beautiful · Post by **bald is beautiful** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:06 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
By the way, I like Rodgers a lot but those "Discount Double Check" All State commercials are terrible. Peyton Manning needs to get healthy quickly. His commercials are outstanding. I like the commercials. Not every day do we get a BJ Raji sighting.