Is Green Bay big enough for Brohm, Rodgers?

By Darrell Laurant  |   Wednesday, April 30, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Louisville Cardinals
Got something to say?

Sign Up and be the first to comment on this article!

How would you like to be in Aaron Rodgers' cleats?

For almost four years, he's been waiting around for Brett Favre to retire, kind of like a faithful, long-suffering butler hoping some day to inherit riches from his bachelor boss.

Then, finally, it happened. The Green Bay Packers' legendary quarterback rode off into the sunset on his tractor, leaving Rodgers as the heir apparent. The Man.

That euphoria lasted until last Day 1 of last weekend's NFL draft. In the second round, the Packers took Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm. In the seventh round, they took LSU quarterback Matt Flynn.

A message to Rodgers, who has been up and down as well as injury prone in occasional substitute stints? Oh, no, said Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson.

"Aaron's a pro," Thompson said. "He knows that this is his gig."

Actually, because Rodgers is a pro, he knows that the NFL has about as much loyalty to its players as the Soprano mob. When you're no longer useful, you get whacked.

Not that the Packers are necessarily giving up on Rodgers. But you don't draft a big-ticket item like Brohm so that he can also hold a clipboard for the next few years.

Brohm was supposed to be a first-rounder. He threw for over 10,000 yards and 71 touchdowns as a Louisville Cardinal and completed 65.8 percent of his passes. He had only five more interceptions in his career than Matt Ryan -- everyone's quarterback darling -- had last year. Somehow, though, through no apparent fault of his own, he slid down into the second round.

He and Rodgers could have a long conversation about respect. Going into the 2005 draft, Alex Smith and Rodgers were supposed to be 1 and 1A on the quarterback list. Smith went first, Rodgers 24th.

But Louisville was terrible last year, everyone said.

True. And why, exactly, was that Brohm's fault? He threw for over 4,000 yards and directed one of the high-scoring offenses in the Big East. He wasn't one of those guys missing tackles and having long touchdown passes heaved over their heads by the likes of Syracuse's Andrew Robinson and whoever played quarterback for Middle Tennessee.

It could be that Green Bay is worried about Rodgers' propensity for getting hurt, and that's a legitimate concern. Favre played without a net (proven backup) for much of his career, but Rodgers is no Brett Favre.

Or maybe they took Brohm under the "Best Available Athlete" philosophy.

Either way, this is a confident young man who isn't going to let Thompson's comment about the job being "Aaron's gig" dissuade him. He'll be going after it, and so will Flynn (although he probably doesn't have the arm to be an NFL starter), and thus the team runs the risk of one of those dreaded "quarterback controversies" that can divide a locker room.

Just wait until they get that mid-September call from Brett, wanting to come back.
Got something to say?

Sign Up and be the first to comment on this article! (0)

About Darrell Laurant

...Sorry, Darrell Laurant's bio is currently not available. Please check back soon!
read more
Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report