Aaron Rodgers Proves He's the One True Starr Quarterback in Green Bay

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Just like that, it's not about Brett Favre anymore when it comes to Aaron Rodgers.

It's about Bart Starr.

Then again, maybe it's about Rodgers evolving into the modern-day Steve Young, especially since Rodgers grew up in Northern California as a San Francisco 49ers fan. Let's just say Young boasted of feeling lighter after he finally resembled his predecessor -- somebody named Joe Montana -- by leading the 49ers to a world championship.

When reminded as much, Rodgers grinned Sunday night in a back room of Cowboys Stadium before saying, "I've never felt like there's been a monkey on my back. The (Green Bay Packers) organization stood behind me. Believed in me ... I told (Packers executive) Ted (Thompson) back in 2005, he wouldn't be sorry with this pick. I told him in 2008 that I was going to repay their trust and get us this opportunity."

What "this opportunity" became was only the Packers' second Super Bowl victory since the legendary days of Vince Lombardi and of the real quarterback that Rodgers is chasing these days.

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It's Starr, all right. Favre is so 20th century for Rodgers, because after the Packers used every bit of Rodgers' body, mind and soul to survive the sloppy but relentless Pittsburgh Steelers down the stretch, Rodgers now has exactly one Super Bowl victory -- you know, just like Favre.

Starr had two of them during the 1960s, and Starr was the NFL's most efficient postseason quarterback ever until Rodgers just went nuts against the Steelers. He completed 24 of 39 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns. As a result, his career passer rating in the playoffs is 112.6 to blow away Starr's previous mark of 104.8.

"He'll be a great Packer for the rest of his life. This was about passing the torch from one quarterback to the next, and Aaron is off to a heck of a start."
- Mike McCarthy Now all Rodgers had to do to become better than Starr with the Packers is to win another Super Bowl, and then another after that.

Said Bob Harlan, the Packers chairman emeritus, standing in the middle of the winners' locker room, "Brett was a kind of guy who would take more chances, and Aaron is a lot more cautious, but I do think he's got a lot of Bart Starr in him. Not only in how he plays the game, but in his personality and in his leadership ability."

To translate, Rodgers joins Starr as a devout Christian, and like Starr, he inspires without the drama of -- oh, say -- Favre.

Still, like Favre and Starr, Rodgers is proficient at surviving in games while helping those around him do the same. Good thing, because the Packers needed such a thing from their quarterback in this one since they were the youngest team in the league going against the oldest.

More daunting for the Packers, this wasn't a Super Bowl.

This was a Guts Bowl.

Advantage, Ben Roethlisberger.

Just two years ago in Tampa, that middle linebacker disguised as an NFL quarterback for the Steelers powered his team downfield during the final seconds against the Arizona Cardinals to win a world championship with a miracle pass and catch. There also were all of those other times that Roethlisberger used his 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds during the past seven years to perform the impossible in a hurry.

So this says much about Rodgers: Despite making his first appearance in a Super Bowl compared to the two world championship rings that Roethlisberger lugs around, Rodgers kept discovering ways to push the Packers to a 31-25 victory despite everything.

They had no running game.

Receivers kept dropping passes, including James Jones who could have buried the Steelers' hopes in the third quarter, but he butchered a catch with only air in his path to the end zone.

Team leader and Pro Bowl cornerback Charles Woodson broke his collarbone in the first half and was lost for the evening.

Plus, they lost key defensive back Sam Shields for long stretches in the second half to a shoulder injury.

Then there was veteran receiver Donald Driver who couldn't play after intermission due to a high ankle sprain.

And did I mention the Packers nearly did the unprecedented in the Super Bowl when they almost blew an 18-point lead?

Courtesy of vintage Roethlisberger, who ignored his two early interceptions that led to Green Bay touchdowns, the Steelers closed their deficit to 28-25 with less than eight minutes left to play after Roethlisberger's pretty touchdown pass of 26 yards to Mike Wallace.

It's just that Rodgers continued his game-long habit of completing third-down passes in the clutch. Before long, the Packers countered Roethlisberger's touchdown with a field goal. Then, when the Steelers failed to make one of their patent Big Ben comebacks in the final two minutes, the Packers had a new king on their quarterback throne.

No wonder Packers coach Mike McCarthy threatened to pinch himself in the aftermath. For one, he combined with Thompson to force Favre into a short-lived retirement three years ago in order to give their backup of three seasons (Rodgers) a chance. For another, McCarthy kept watching Rodgers become Ali to Roethlisberger's Frazier.

"He'll be a great Packer for the rest of his life," said McCarthy of the 27-year-old Rodgers. "This was about passing the torch from one quarterback to the next, and Aaron is off to a heck of a start."

The key word is "start."

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