When Jordan Love ran onto Soldier Field on the second Sunday of September, he became the third quarterback to start week 1 for the Green Bay Packers in the last 30 years. No other NFL team has less than five week 1 starters during that time and 20 teams, almost a third of the league, have had at least 10 week-one starters since 1993.
But you get to Green Bay, and we’ve had the luxury of going into every season with either Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, or now Jordan Love for hopefully the years to come.
As a fan, it’s cool knowing your team has had consistency at the sport’s most important position, with the first two quarterbacks bringing at least one Super Bowl to Green Bay. In the first two weeks of the season, Jordan Love has played clean football, going for six touchdown passes and no turnovers.
Since he was drafted as a Utah State quarterback three years ago, his mechanics have immensely improved. He had us within a minute of a 2-0 start if it wasn’t for Joe Barry’s defense letting the Falcons off the hook. In addition, his accomplishments have come without his best wide receiver for two games and without his starting running back for one. Not to overhype his playing but everyone should be excited for Green Bay’s future, considering other midwestern teams quarterback situations.
Rodgers has obviously followed in Brett Favre’s footsteps by taking his talents to the New York Jets for the 2023 season. The Jets currently have the longest playoff drought in the league, having last made it in 2010. To give you a snapshot, Favre was still suited up for the Minnesota Vikings and Rodgers was leading us to a Super Bowl.
However, the Rodgers era in New York halted as fast as it started. Rodgers tore his Achillies on the fourth snap of their Monday Night Football opener against the Buffalo Bills. You could see in his reaction right away that something wasn’t right.
The next day confirmed what Jets fans feared, and that Rodgers would miss the entire year. While some Packer fans’ perception of Rodgers may have fallen in the past couple of years, with understandably mixed reaction, especially with the early playoff exits, I feel for Rodgers, who seemed excited for the upcoming season.
We should be grateful for the greatness we’ve seen from the former Packer’s quarterback, as some teams have it rougher than us. The Jets and Bears have never had a 4000-yard passer, with the latter’s best quarterback in franchise history being Jay Cutler.
The Browns have had 20 different week-one starters in that same 30-year span, and the best of the bunch being Baker Mayfield. My point is quarterback is a tough position to play in the professionals, and even the average fan can see the difference between a special quarterback and just any other starter. So, I hope that Rodgers can make a full comeback from one of the sport’s worst injuries, because that is no way for a Packer to exit.