Greatness is close for Aaron Rodgers

The great ones, as we are relentlessly reminded, collect rings. Yes, it's true -- Trent Dilfer, Jeff Hostetler and Brad Johnson started at quarterback for Super Bowl winning teams, and none of them has been confused with Dan Marino.

Marino, however, gets only honorable mention when the greatest quarterbacks are discussed because he never won a ring.

Winning a title accomplishes two feats for a quarterback.

1. If he is near-great, he becomes great.

2. And he never has to answer another question about not winning a ring. In a word, relief.

Aaron Rodgers is close to being great. His Green Bay coaches and teammates argue that he already is.

His statistics during his three years as a starter are impressive. In his first two seasons, he threw for more than 4,000 yards each year. This season, he threw for 3,922 and missed almost two full games with a concussion. That prevented him from becoming only the seventh quarterback in history to surpass 4,000 yards in three consecutive seasons.

In the playoffs, he has won three road games. He defeated Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons, who were the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Against Atlanta, he completed 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns. His passer rating of 136.8 set an NFL playoff record for quarterbacks who attempted at least 35 passes.

"I think he's proven he's a great quarterback," wide receiver Greg Jennings said. "I think he's proven that he's going to continue to be a great quarterback and can get better, that he has the drive to get better."

But Jennings and everyone else knows the qualifier -- Aaron Rodgers has not won a Super Bowl.

"I think it's one factor," Green Bay quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said in determining greatness. "There's some outstanding players who haven't won Super Bowls. That doesn't mean they weren't great players.

"I think he wants to be a champion. As far as being thought of as an elite quarterback, I know that we do and his teammates do, and that's probably pretty good for him."

The Super Bowl today is bigger for no one more than Aaron Rodgers because he stands to win twice. A victory means his team is a champion -- and it also means he's officially great and can enter the discussion that begins with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, includes Ben Roethlisberger and had a new inductee last year in Drew Brees.

Rodgers admits that being considered one of the top quarterbacks is important.

"I'm a competitor so, yeah, I feel the competition with every quarterback in the league," Rodgers said. "But I'm not concerned with where I get ranked among those quarterbacks. I'm concerned about competing against them and beating them when we play them."

Like the great ones, Rodgers has continued to make advancements in his game. Ask a Green Bay wide receiver where Rodgers' improvement has come recently and the answers say something about Rodgers' approach to improving.

From Jennings: "The No. 1 thing he's done, and made a huge point of emphasis, is to get rid of the ball quicker."

From James Jones: "The way he prepares. He's the first one to get there, the last one to leave every day. He lets us know what he sees on the field. He knows what the defense is going to do before they even do it. He's telling us in the huddle third-and-2, this is the type of blitz they're going to run. He has elevated his game."

From Jordy Nelson: "I think he just continues to take more control of the offense. I think he's learning what he wants to do on the game day. He's making sure we know that."

From Donald Driver: "I don't think it was just one thing. I think he improved his game all the way around. And that's what you have to do as a quarterback and the leader of the team and the offense. I've seen him grow from a young man to a grown man, and that's what you have to do on this level to be one of the best quarterbacks in this game. If he's not the best quarterback in the game, he's one of the best."

Rodgers has done an excellent job of limiting his mistakes. In the last two seasons, he's thrown only 18 interceptions. Brady had 17 during the same period, and Roethlisberger also had 17 -- although he missed four games because of a suspension this season. Manning and Brees each had 33 interceptions in the last two seasons.

"He hasn't thrown a lot of interceptions since he became the starter," Clements said. "Occasionally you're going to get them whether the defense makes a good play or he makes a bad play at that particular time. But his decision-making is really the thing that has gotten outstanding and I'm sure will get better."

Rodgers is on the big stage with a huge opportunity today. Greatness is close. And with a title, so is relief.

Jan Hubbard 817-390-7760

This story was originally published February 4, 2011 at 6:45 PM with the headline "Greatness is close for Aaron Rodgers."