Jack’s Blog

After all Aaron Rodgers had to endure, none of which was of his doing, he comes out in his first playoff game and puts up numbers a Hall-of-Fame quarterback would hope for.  Yet, his team loses.  

It’s a bummer, sure, but because his team is the legendary Green Bay Packers, the only community-owned NFL franchise, and the quarterback he replaced is the just as legendary Brett Favre (whose new team just happens to be the hated Minnesota Vikings), and the Vikings are still alive in the NFL playoffs, his emotions must skyrocketing.  What’s a guy to do?

For those who’ve never been part of a team (especially one competing at a high level), it’s easy to rationalize what Rodgers is going through.  He did as close to his best (anyone whose career has lasted over 30 minutes has made some mistakes) as he could.  The numbers speak for themselves so he should have nothing to be ashamed about.  Except for one thing.  The dreaded bottom line in team sports: did your club win?

If the answer’s no, it seems as though nothing else matters.  Those who are Rodgers’ fans (and that group should certainly have grown exponentially in witnesses after his  performance yesterday) will walk with their heads held high.  His detractors, though, will point to two areas, one a fact, the other, . . . we’ll never know.  The fact is, naturally, that the Pack lost - and, to fans, nothing else matters (except maybe in the NY-NJ area because whether you “covered” eases the pain somewhat).  The other, which in this group’s mind, he’ll never live down (at least until he leads the Green & Gold to, oh yeah, something called the Lombardi Trophy), is that if Brett were at QB, we’d have won today (”today,” meaning any day the Packers have a game - even though the stats don’t bear that out).  But “he would have led us to a score in OT” and “no way would he have let any defensive lineman strip him of the ball.”  It’s almost like the “h” in he is capitalized.

Unfair?  Hey, in sports - or life - what’s fair?  Ask Colt McCoy.  Or Wes Welker.  Or Bobby Hurley.  Or Muhammed Ali.  Or Wally Pipp.  Or Lou Gehrig.  Or Pat Tillman. 

Aaron Rodgers plays a game for a living.  For a lot of money.  He gave it his all, “left nothing on the field” as they say.  But, because his team, and as quarterback, make no mistake about it, it’s his team, I would imagine, as a true pro, he’s disappointed.  Yet he lives to play another day.  It just won’t be until next season.

Aaron Rodgers should take heed from another (to whom life was anything but fair), the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said:

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

He’ll get over it.Â

While the final preseason game is often referred to as a dress rehearsal (usually by the TV guys who need to keep the views tuned in), it’s a life and death stuggle for many of the “marginal” players vying for roster spots.  While some players are working to crack the starting lineup, others are desperate to prove they belong.  The world of football has recently shown some signs it realizes the country’s economy isn’t as vibrant as it’s been, with the folding of the Arena Football League.  While I never went to a game, I thought the AFL had a loyal following.

Some of these guys who felt there would always be football in their lives are having a rude and realistic awakening.  Just as the NFL has always been an “employer’s market,” people are discovering the “real world” is operating under the exactly the same scenario.  Getting cut means trying to land a job in the workforce, and because jobs there have become increasingly more difficult, some of these players are now beginning to understand why their coaches stressed getting a degree.  According to their not-so-talented friends, the compensation package that workers in today’s society get doesn’t compare very favorably to what the NFL offers - in salary, benefits and - especially - perks.

So, as these clubs wrap up their preseason schedule, the borderline guys anxiously wait for their chance to show what they can do.  Sometimes, it comes down to a special teams play, and if a guy’s on the kickoff team, he doesn’t get but one chance - unless his squad scores.  Others pace and hope for the call, only to see an opportunity open up when one of their teammates gets hurt.  Compassion, at least momentarily, flies out the window and the “Wally Pipp Rule” quickly enters into play. 

It turned out Lou Gehrig was ready when he was called to substitute for Pipp - and didn’t come out of the lineup for fourteen years.  Even then, it was only after he couldn’t physically perform to his standards and requested his manager take him out “for the good of the team.”  He was diagnosed with the fatal disease, ALS, shortly thereafter.  When it was apparent his career was over, he gave the famous “I’m the luckiest man on the face of the earth” speech.

Gehrig’s attitude, capped off by that famous quote, is the reason (most of) these complete the roster players are working as though their lives depended on making the team.  And that reason is what I told my two sons (ages 20 and 15) long ago.  It is also why I have summed it up in the form of a quote and printed it on a sheet of paper that I taped over the TV screen in my classroom (I wanted to put it where I knew the kids would be looking):

“The key to a successful job is to find something you love to do, . . . and get somebody to pay you to do it.” Â