The Green Bay Shadows

Brett Favre is the Cal Ripken of football. There were far better shortstops than Ripken. There are far better quarterbacks than Favre.

But what they share is the incredible element of the “iron man.” No matter what happened, they played their sport.

They spoke softly and carried a big stick (or in Favre’s case, a big arm). A family member dies, they play. A bone gets broken, they play. America falls in love with them, they play.

The act of playing, even in silence, is single-handedly the most inspiring thing that Brett Favre ever did for his teammates in Green Bay. And the fans and media in Wisconsin, and for that matter the world, were spoiled by this.

In the midst of everything that went down this offseason, Green Bay management made it pretty clear that Rodgers was going to be “the guy.” He’s looked good so far, but as far as I’m concerned his first test is this weekend at home against Atlanta.

Why, you ask? Aaron Rodgers is listed as questionable with a partially separated shoulder.

From a medical perspective, he should probably sit. But I wonder if any Packers’ fan would actually accept that.

Their previous quarterback was knocked unconscious, sat out a play, came back in and threw a touchdown only to be diagnosed with a concussion.

Their previous quarterback lost his father and less than 24 hours later, played one of the most perfect games in history.

Their previous quarterback would rather eat 93 taquitos in one sitting, if it meant not letting down the people of Green Bay.

And because of the legacy of their previous quarterback, the entire future of a man only two years older than I am depends almost exclusively on if he plays this weekend. If he doesn’t play, every Brett Favre comparison that you can possibly think of will throw Rodgers to the ground.

How could a man like Rodgers sit out and nurse a shoulder injury when their previous quarterback was throwing a ball with a broken hand that couldn’t even grip the football? If Aaron Rodgers sits out this weekend, everything that Green Bay football has represented for nearly two decades will have officially vanished.

And that ladies and gentlemen, is exactly why he will play this weekend. He knows what is at stake. He knows that if he doesn’t play, it is over for him before it even began.