Cris Collinsworth Once Said, 'You're Not Going to Win a Whole Lot with Aaron Rodgers Playing Quarterback'
Aaron Rodgers will be a guest on Kenny Mayne's farewell SportsCenter on Monday night. It is unlikely he reveals anything about his future during the appearance, but you never know. While we wait for his latest appearance as the Green Bay Packers quarterback, let's look back at when it all started. Week 13 of the 2007 NFL season.
Rodgers in his third year out of Cal backing up Brett Favre. He had only attempted 32 passes in his career. Rodgers got his big break when the 10-1 Packers played the 10-1 Dallas Cowboys on a Thursday night with Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth on the call for the NFL Network. Favre got hurt during the second quarter and Rodgers replaced him. On his first full drive, after a botched play, Cris Collinsworth said, "You're not going to win a whole lot with Aaron Rodgers playing quarterback unless things change drastically."
The night Brett Favre got hurt and Aaron Rodgers had to come in the replace him.
— Football Is Life (@FootbaIl_Tweets) April 3, 2021
Listen to this quote... @Godfather__MIA pic.twitter.com/t98LDMJINi
Luckily, someone uploaded the entire game to YouTube so we can confirm that Collinsworth was not taken out of context. And that Rodgers threw his first career touchdown pass a few plays later.
Rodgers would finish the game with 18 completions on 26 attempts and 201 passing yards, but the Cowboys held on to win, 37-27. Favre would return the next week and Green Bay would finish the season 13-3. The Colts and Cowboys also went 13-3 that season while the Patriots went 16-0. Green Bay, like New England, would be eliminated in the postseason by Eli Manning and the 10-6 New York Giants.
Anyway, most people probably nodded along with Collinsworth at the time. Rodgers was seen as a wasted draft pick. The Packers went 8-8 in 2006 and missed the playoffs by a game. Imagine if they had used the Rodgers pick on another weapon for Favre or someone to help sure up the defense? Then the 2007 Packers lost by a field goal to the eventual Super Bowl champions. It was probably hard to justify the Rodgers pick at the time. No wonder Cris Collinsworth said what he said and Brett Favre ended up leaving a couple months later.
(via @JoeBucsFan)