Football

Aaron Rodgers’ impeccable resume needs legacy-boosting second ring

Aaron Rodgers’ greatness is undeniable.

His résumé is impeccable.

It’s littered with personal accomplishments — three league MVP honors (about to be four when this year’s award is announced), numerous regular-season and playoff records, nine-figure millions in earnings on and off the football field.

There’s probably not enough shelving in his Wisconsin home to fit all the trophies and plaques that illustrate his remarkable feats in 14 seasons as the Packers’ starting quarterback.

But, when it’s all over for the 38-year-old Rodgers, are those the things he wants as the ultimate definition to his legacy?

Rodgers has everything, even a Super Bowl ring.

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Ring.

Not rings.

This is the one blemish on the Rodgers résumé. For all the remarkable things he’s accomplished, he should have more than one Super Bowl ring on one of those trophy shelves.

Peyton Manning, who before Rodgers was the most prolific quarterback ripping apart record books with personal accomplishments, eventually got a second Super Bowl ring when he left Indianapolis for Denver.

Even Eli Manning, whose career statistics are pedestrian compared to those of his brother or Rodgers, won two rings with the Giants thanks to a couple of magically timed hot streaks.

Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers looks on before the game
The window for a second Aaron Rodgers’ title is closing at this point.
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Rodgers, whose Packers (13-4) play the 49ers (11-7) in the NFC divisional round Saturday night at Lambeau Field, needs another ring to elevate his legacy. And, at his age, the window is not opening wider, it’s slowly closing.

When that undeniable fact was brought to his attention during a Zoom call on Tuesday, Rodgers joked with the reporter who asked him about wondering how many more chances he’ll get to win another ring that the question “seems a little morbid.’’

“Football mortality is something that we all think about,’’ Rodgers said. “We all think about how many more opportunities we’re going to be afforded, and each one is special. Each season is special and unique in its own way — as has this one been.

“There’s four teams left on the NFC side and we’re one of them. We get to host playoff games (the Packers have home-field advantage as long as they’re alive). This is a special opportunity. We’re not going to make it bigger than it is. We’ve gotten this far being level-headed and even-keeled and not riding a roller coaster of emotions and we’re going to keep on doing the same thing.

“If it was good enough to get us this far, it’s good enough to get us past this point.’’

Rodgers is fresh off yet another amazing regular season during which he threw 37 touchdowns and only four interceptions along with 4,115 yards, a 68.9-percent completion rate and an NFL-best 111.9 passer rating. He’s considered a virtual lock to win another league MVP award.

He has a very good team around him — on both sides of the ball. That puts a lot of pressure on Rodgers, who happens to be 0-3 in the postseason against the 49ers, the team he rooted for as a kid.

Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers throws a pass
Aaron Rodgers continues to rack up personal accolades and trophies — and will likely add another MVP award to his haul.
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A one-and-done exit from the playoffs this year — particularly after the unnecessary soap-opera drama that took place during the offseason with him reportedly threatening never to play for the Packers again — would tarnish a legacy that should be enhanced.

Rodgers, who of course isn’t thinking about that, knows it.

“It’s all a part of it,’’ Rodgers said. “Success is often based, for quarterbacks, on championships won. Success individually is much more than that. And on the flip side of that, failure, in my opinion, shouldn’t be based solely on your losses and your failures and your mistakes and your low points.

“It’s so much more than that,’’ Rodgers, getting introspective, went on. “It’s mindset, it’s approach, it’s the total package. But I understand that in our business, so much of it is focused on the wins and losses — especially in the playoffs, Super Bowl rings and all that stuff. I understand that’s part of my legacy I’ll be judged on when I’m done playing.

“Every year is important when it comes to furthering your legacy, but I take a lot of pride in the success that we’ve had and that I’ve had and I hope we can add to it — both from a how-we’re-judged standpoint and how-we-judge-ourselves standpoint.’’

Legacy, of course, falls in the latter of those two standpoints.

And Rodgers, for all of his greatness, knows that in order for him to enhance his legacy he has to make one of those personal-accomplishment categories plural — from ring to rings.

Artmotion U.S.A

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