Aaron Rodgers is set to make history the next time he steps out on the field. The Green Bay Packers quarterback is tied with Brett Favre for the most touchdown passes in team history with 442. Rodgers should break the record when the Packers face the Cleveland Browns on Christmas Day, which will be very special to him since Favre is one of his favorite people.
“I have a lot of love for Favrey,” Rodgers said, per Ryan Wood of Packers News. “And, again, a lot of gratitude for the time I got to spend watching him. Not a lot of young quarterbacks are blessed with the opportunity to go to a team with a first-ballot Hall of Famer in the same room, and to get to watch and learn for three years. Somebody asked me the other day, ‘Do you think things would have turned out the way they did if you’d been a starter in Year 1?’ The obvious competitor in you, and the confidence and the ego, say, ‘Of course. Of course. I definitely would have turned out this way.’ But I think the human element, and the observer, and the gratitude is understanding things happen the way they happen to allow me to get in this position.”
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Like Favre, Rodgers will be a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his career is over. He was drafted by the Packers in 2005 as Favre was nearing the end of his career. After three seasons of being Favre’s backup, Rodgers took over in 2008 and has become one of the best QBs in NFL history.
“Ultimately that’s what was best for me,” Rodgers said, “not just to be able to learn behind Brett, but to be picked by this organization. To kind of have a resettling of the ego and the competitive drive and the work ethic of, OK, now I’m in the room for the first time in my life with a guy who’s better than me. He throws it better. His mastery of the system is better. Instincts are better, pocket presence is better.”
Rodgers’ 442 TD passes rank fifth in NFL history. He needs 67 touchdown passes to pass Favre on the all-time list. Rodgers also ranks 10th in all-time passing yards with 54,732.
