Aaron Rodgers Will Make Pack Fans Forget About Brett Favre

Geriatric quarterback Brett Favre helped the Minnesota Vikings defeat his estranged team, the Green Bay Packers, 30-23 Monday Night at the Metrodome.

Favre, 40, played brilliantly against his rivals as he completed 24 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns.

Despite his claims to the contrary, there is zero question that Favre returned to play an 18^th season in the NFL primarily to exact revenge on the Packers for their decision to trade him to the New York Jets last August.

After years of being held hostage by Favre in the offseason, Green Bay’s brass finally tired of his wavering and they decided that the time had arrived to let backup signal-caller Aaron Rodgers, 25, lead their franchise.

Favre, a Green Bay icon who has essentially set every NFL passing record imaginable, was for the first time since 1992 no longer the face of the storied franchise.

Favre’s divorce from the Packers created a civil war of sorts in the state of Wisconsin.

No matter what, many fans will always side with Favre.

On the contrary, much of Cheesehead Nation had grown weary of Favre’s charades and ultimately chose Packers management over their Hall of Fame gunslinger.

Due to no fault of his own, Rodgers, who the Packers selected out of the University of California with the 24^th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, was caught in the middle of the ugly separation.

Regardless of the outcome, Rodgers, a 2004 First-Team All-Pac-10 selection, performed admirably Monday night.

The former standout for the Golden Bears completed 26 passes for 384 yards and two touchdowns.

Rodgers, who threw an interception and lost a fumble, posted such impressive statistics despite being frenetically pressured by the Vikings defense on virtually every down.

“Below my expectations, definitely,” Rodgers said. “To have three possessions where you’re in their territory and come away with zero points, two of them are directly related to mistakes by myself, that’s disappointing.”

Rodgers was absolutely too critical of his play.

Granted, the fifth-year pro periodically held onto the ball too long.

Still, without Rodgers behind that porous offensive line, the Vikings would have utterly massacred the Packers.

After the game concluded, Favre sought Rodgers to congratulate his successor for “the way he battled.”

“I thought he hung in there,” Favre remarked. “I’ve been saying all along the guy can play.”

Last October, Rodgers signed a contract extension worth $65 million that likely will ensure that he is the Packers quarterback through the 2014 season.

Rodgers is an elite talent and a class act that is the very definition of a professional.

Plus, “the guy can play.”

Did anyone else just hear Packers fans collectively say, “Brett who?”