Rodgers to Favre: Third MVP Would Be ‘Special’
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Rodgers wasn’t named NFL MVP on Friday but his overwhelming selection to The Associated Press All-Pro team is a strong indicator.
The past 13 quarterbacks to win MVP also were named the first-team All-Pro quarterback. In 2003, Peyton Manning was named the All-Pro quarterback but Steve McNair won MVP. Before that, you have to go back to 1987, when Joe Montana was the first-team All-Pro but John Elway was the MVP.
It would be Rodgers’ third MVP award, joining the 2011 and 2014 seasons when he doubled as the first-team All-Pro.
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“You know, it would mean a lot” to win MVP, Rodgers said Friday on The SiriusXM Blitz with Brett Favre. “I think it would mean a lot because doing it in multiple systems is pretty cool. Like Brett said, we are still running some of the stuff that we’ve run over the years, West Coast roots, but to do it in a different system is pretty special.”
Also making it special would be the history. Only five players have won three or more MVPs: Manning with an unprecedented five and Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Tom Brady and Favre with three apiece. If Rodgers wins a third, not only would he join a select group but he’d get past two of his idols, Montana and Young, as two-time winners.
“Obviously, growing up and being a big Niners fan first, but then a big Favre fan once Joe and Steve retired, watching Brett do it three straight years in the ‘90s was incredible, and something that will probably never be done again. I mean, legitimately. To be able to dominate like that for an extended time and to win three in a row is just kind of unheard of.
“To be able to join that group would be really special. And a lot of times people will talk about, like, ‘I don’t want to talk about awards,’ or whatnot. I just don’t really subscribe to that. We’re more competitors first and getting recognition for what we do is special and it feels good. To be able to win that for a third time, (it) would be really special to join that group of names.”
Rodgers is coming off one of the greatest seasons of quarterbacking play in NFL history. Rodgers led the NFL in completion percentage, touchdown percentage and interception percentage. That’s been done only once in the Super Bowl era, when Young did it in 1992. Before that, you’ve got to go all the way back to Sammy Baugh with Washington in 1940.
“I’ve got nothing but high praise,” Favre said. “I don’t know if a quarterback has ever played as good as you’re playing this year. I know it won’t matter unless you win the big one, but [co-host] Bruce [Murray] and I were just talking about it and he made the comment, and you probably heard it, that there’s a different feel this year from the outside looking in. It’s a different team.”
With Rodgers contributing 51 total touchdowns, the Packers led the NFL with 509 points. Their 12 games of 30-plus points tied for the second-most in league history. Green Bay finished No. 1 in the red zone—its 80 percent touchdown rate perhaps the best in NFL history—and No. 2 on third down. In Rodgers’s mind, that’s a championship-winning formula.
“Last year we were such a good team on the defensive side, and offensively we were just a little inconsistent,” Rodgers said. “In the playoffs, you’ve got to put up points. You’ve got to score. They always say defense wins championships, but I think that’s more the anomaly with teams like, you know, maybe Baltimore, they did it in early 2000s, and maybe the Giants a couple times. Really, a lot of times, it’s the offense that gets the hottest that ends up winning it all. And this year, we’re just playing so much better on offense.”
