Sure, Matt Ryan is under pressure to take the Falcons to the Super Bowl, but that's nothing compared to what Aaron Rodgers is dealing with. It's been six whole years since he's played in the Big Game, and Packers Backers are antsy about that long drought.
In Atlanta, Falcons fans are excited a chance to go to the Super Bowl. In Wisconsin, they still grumble about the two NFC championship games coach Mike McCarthy has lost during his 11 years there—even if one of them came in OT at Seattle after a botched on-side kick.
That’s how it goes in Green Bay. Rodgers plays a position that always takes the most heat, anyway, but he plays for the storied Packers (est. 1919, 13 league championships). He followed Brett Favre (now in the Hall of Fame).
Take the scrutiny that Ryan is facing and multiply it for Rodgers. He's a two-time MVP and Super Bowl winner but Packers supporters always want more, more, more.
“You learn as a young player the tradition of excellence that we have here laid down over the years by Curly Lambeau, Bart Starr, the multiple championships that we’ve won, and then being here with Brett you know what a high level he played at for so many years,” Rodgers said this week. “So the expectation was understood at a very young age in my career that those guys set the bar really high and that’s the way they expect you to play. So you knew there wasn’t going to be a very long grace period for myself once I stepped in there, and I wanted to make sure I was ready to go.”
After three seasons as Favre’s understudy, Rodgers was ready. The Packers missed the playoffs in 2008, his first season as starter, before making the postseason for eight consecutive seasons. The Packers won the 2011 Super Bowl, and they lost in the wild-card round just twice over that span.
That’s not good enough for the Packers. Favre started a new golden era following many lean years in the 70s, 80s and early 90s and their fans don’t want it to end. They expect more, more more.
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I was on the Packers beat from 1999-2001 so I saw this firsthand. I’ll never forget the moment when I realized just how big Packers football is in Wisconsin.
During the 2001 season I was at a bar in downtown Milwaukee with some friends when I saw Packers offensive lineman Barry Stokes. He normally was a backup but that week an injury to Chad Clifton had forced Stokes to start at left tackle against the Bears (the Packers won). He was an anonymous player at the most anonymous of positions.
Not in Packerland. As I watched from afar, a group of guys came over to Stokes and one of them says: “Hey, Barry, great game!” They not only recognized the backup offensive lineman, they knew he’d played well.
That’s the kind of place where Rodgers plays quarterback. The Packers couldn’t possibly have hoped for a better successor to Favre, and Rodgers is a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame, but in Green Bay they expect more, more, more.
“I think the grace period improves but, as a competitor, the expectation never changes,” Rodgers said. “You want to win it every single year, and the year you don’t is a disappointment. That’s how our fans feel, how our players feel, and how the organization (feels). We expect greatness every single year.
“It’s not like this at every other place. I know that from talking to guys who come in from other teams, and just being a historian myself of the game The teams and the organizations that have won it and achieved that consistent level of success, there’s something different about those organizations and we’re proud that we’re one of them. It’s been fun to be here for 12 years now.”
Falcons fans expect Ryan to do what he’s never done and lead his team to the Super Bowl. Certainly he feels the weight of those expectations.
Packers fans expect Rodgers to do what he’s already done and take his team to the Super Bowl--and then he’d better win it again. Rodgers is used to that weight but no doubt he still feels it, too.
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