Tom E. Curran • E-mail

The day Brett Favre became the NFL’s touchdown pass king – Sept. 30, 2007 to be exact, in Minnesota – I couldn’t help but think about Aaron Rodgers.

With the Pack at 4-0, Favre rolling back the clock and playing – on that day in particular – with the giddiness of a new starter, the end did not seem near. Rodgers, taken by Green Bay with the 24th pick in the 2005 draft, had a real shot at completing his rookie contract in 2009 without ever being the Green Bay starter.

In the locker room that day, I asked Rodgers about the possibility of continuing to collect dust as Favre’s backup. Was it difficult to be trapped behind the bionic and iconic Favre?

Rodgers admitted wanting his shot, especially when he looked around the league and saw so many other guys he believed he was more skilled than leading offenses of their own. But how could he complain, he asked, when he was behind a guy who couldn’t be dynamited from the starting lineup?

I asked Packers GM Ted Thompson about Rodgers hitting free agency in 2009 without ever supplanting Favre.

“I don’t see that happening,” said Thompson.

The GM was right. And now a Packers team that was good enough to make it within a whisker of the Super Bowl last season, is turned over to a kid entering his fourth season with 59 career attempts and one touchdown pass (441 behind Favre’s record).

Yet this is not a bad thing for Green Bay. Evidence? Nov. 29, 2007.

On that night, Dallas and Green Bay squared off in what was supposed to be a Thursday night showdown for NFC supremacy. Favre was awful. He went 5 for 14 for 56 yards and threw two interceptions. Contrary to the way he played during most of the ’07 season, Favre was hell-bent on making something happen -- good or bad  -- against Dallas. By the time Favre went to the sidelines with a shoulder injury, Green Bay was down 27-10.

Time for Mr. Rodgers
Enter Rodgers. Attacking the No. 2 defense in the NFC at the time, the backup went 18 for 26 for 201 yards and a touchdown. He led the Packers back from that 17-point deficit to get them within three points (27-24).

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This wasn’t lightning in a bottle. In three seasons apprenticing, Rodgers’ development was obvious to those covering the team. In the 2007 preseason, he went 37 for 59 for 382 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s only thrown one pick in the past two preseasons.

Watching Favre as closely as Rodgers has will have taught him that there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way. And Favre, for all his success, gave reams of evidence on both sides.

“I wish Aaron well,” Favre said during Thursday’s retirement press conference. “I think he’ll do a great job. He has talent. I’ve heard for the last three years, ‘I hope he learned from Brett.’ He’s his own player with his own style and that’s what he needs to stick to.”

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