Aaron Rodgers: From Brett Favre's Shadow to Super Bowl XLV Champion?

The Green Bay Packers will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.

At the helm for the Packers will be quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers has followed an unusual path to stardom.

His post-high school career began at Butte Community College after no Division-I school made him an offer.

He moved on to play for the University of California, Berkeley after coach Jeff Tedford noticed him while scouting Butte's tight end.

Rodgers was seen as a bit of a gamble heading into the 2005 NFL Draft, though Green Bay did select him in the first round.

He then spent three years as Brett Favre's backup, waiting while Favre was getting all the attention and refusing to release his stranglehold on the starting job.

Once the Packers finally promoted Rodgers, they did so against the wishes of many of the Green Bay faithful.

This season he has most assuredly moved out of Favre's shadow.

Now Favre has become little more than gossip fodder, while Rodgers has led the Packers to a spot in the Super Bowl, gaining respect along the way.

Associated Press scribe Chris Jenkins writes that Rodgers "made Brett Favre an afterthought in Green Bay."

Before the start of the season, Sports Illustrated football writer Peter King named Rodgers his preseason pick for MVP on the basis of the quarterback's "phenomenal preseason." (SI, 09/06/10).

Early on, he would not have been an obvious pick to make the NFL, let alone make it to the sport's biggest stage, yet he has.

Rodgers will attempt to mark his unlikely path with the ultimate milestone by taking the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.