Sunday Snippet: Aaron Rodgers

“I think one of the most important things is learning to be an every down guy.”

Are you ready for some football? The 2010-2011 NFL season kicked off this past Thursday with the reigning Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints defeating the Brett Favre-led Minnesota Vikings. Today marks the first full day of football this season, so I thought it would be fitting to pick a football-related quote.

There are a few reasons why I decided on Aaron Rodgers today. First, I thought it was fitting that Brett Favre lost on Thursday, since Aaron Rodgers was his effective successor with the Green Bay Packers. Second, the team rankings put out by the experts at NFL.com, last time I checked, had the Green Bay Packers as the number one team this year. Third, Rodgers has the highest average draft position in the fantasy football league on NFL.com.

Yes, Aaron Rodgers really had big shoes to fill when Favre left Lambeau Field and he was certainly working under Favre’s shadow for some time. Now, though, it seems that this quarterback has really come into his own and he’s ready to lead his team to some monumental success. Even I picked the Packers to make the NFC Championship game last season (they didn’t make it that far). This year could be better.

And what can we learn from the quote above? It doesn’t matter if you have one great pass when you follow it up with three bumbling plays. You need to work toward not only being good, but being consistently good. Play every down and don’t just go through the motions. Put in the effort, put in the training, and bring it on game day. Every down is important.

So, who is your pick for the Super Bowl this year? Is it too early to make predictions? Will Terrell Owens make a major (positive) impact with the Cincinnati Bengals? How will McNabb fit in with the Redskins? Will Drew Brees and Peyton Manning meet again at the big game?