Best Aaron Rodgers Highlights

Could Aaron Rodgers be the greatest Quarterback in NFL History? It is too early to tell yet, but his statistics so far certainly put him on a pace to be in that discussion. If he continues on this path he could surpass all the great QBs including Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Dan Marino and Johnny Unitas.

Aaron Rodgers was born December 2 in Chico, California. He played high school football at Pleasant Valley High School in Chico and started his Junior and Senior years. While at Pleasant Valley, he set the single game TD record with 6 TDs in a game and also set the single season passing yards records with 2,466 his Senior year.

Despite throwing for a total of 4,421 yards during his Junior and Senior years, he was not heavily recruited by D1 schools so he decided to play football at Butte Community College, a local junior college. During his freshman years at Butte CC, Aaron Rodgers threw for 28 TDs while leading Butte CC to a 10-1 record and a #2 national ranking among community colleges. His performance was enough to attract the interest of California head coach Jeff Tedford. Since Rodgers had strong academics coming out of high school, he was able to transfer after one year at Butte CC and went to University of California, Berkeley for his sophomore year.

While at California, Aaron Rodgers started most of his sophomore and junior years and set a school record for lowest percentage of interceptions at 1.43%. As a Junior, Aaron Rodgers led the Bears to a 10-1 record and a top 5 national ranking at the end of the regular season. After the Bears lost to Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl, 45-31, Aaron Rodgers decided to forgo his senior season and entered the 2005 NFL Draft.

In the 2005 NFL Draft, Aaron Rodgers was predicted to be selected early, however, he dropped to the 24th pick in the first round. In one of the best bargains ever in the NFL Draft, Green Bay selected Rodgers with the 24th pick. Much was made about the Packers pick and about Aaron Rodgers during the draft. Many thought it was a wasted pick to use a first rounder for a back-up. But, the Packers selected Aaron Rodgers as the heir apparent for the aging Brett Favre and wanted him to be the team's starter in 1-2 seasons. However, with the multiple "un-retiring" stunts by Brett Favre, Rodgers did not finally become the team's starter until 2008-09 season.

During his first three years as the starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers showed considerable improvement across all QB categories. And since midway through the 2010-2011 season, there has been no better QB in the NFL. During the Packers run to the Super Bowl Championship, Aaron Rodgers was incredible despite playing against the league's best defenses. Rodgers completed 68.2% of his passes, averaged 273 yards per game, threw for 9 TDs and only 2 interceptions. He finished with a post-season QB Rating of 109.8%.

During the 2011-2012 season, Aaron Rodgers stats actually increased to impossibly high levels. Over 15 games (he did not play in the 16th game), he had a QB rating of 122.5% (crazy high level), he completed 68.3% of his passes, threw 45 TDs and only 6 interceptions, while averaging 309 yards per game. Unfortunately for Rodgers, the Green Bay defense was not as stellar as their offense and they lost in the second round of the playoffs to the New York Giants, 20-37.

In 2012, Rodgers continued his torrid pace but now with a much more potent batch of receivers. With the emergence of Randall Cobb as a slot receiver, James Jones as a deep threat and still having Greg Jennings (injured for 8 games of the season) and Jordy Nelson, the Packers have the deepest and most talented receiving corp in the NFL. As a result, Rodgers again had a great season although their improved running game meant that they did not need to rely on his arm to the same extent as in the past. Rodgers passed for 4,295 years in 2012, completing 67.2% of his passes. He threw for 39 TDs and only 8 interceptions and a 108 Passer Rating for the season. Once again the defense let them down in the postseason and the Packers lost to San Francisco in the 2nd round of the playoffs, 45-31.

After 5 years as a starter in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers has the best career QB rating in NFL History, 104.9. In fact, he is the only QB to have a career rating over 100 and the next closest, Steve Young, has a career rating of 96.8. Rodgers is playing himself into the Hall of Fame and should have Packers fans excited for years to come.

Do you think Packers fans miss Brett Favre?

By the way, Rodgers is not just a serious athlete, he also has a great sense of humor and is a bit of the team clown. For an example of his antics and pranks, check out this Aaron Rodgers photobomb gallery. Well, I hope you enjoyed this Aaron Rodgers bio

Want to know what's going on at Lambeau Field right now? Check out the live webcam from Lambeau.

This photo is courtesy of Allposters.com, you can buy it here.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2012 Hornetsnest on Squidoo