Regardless of how things ended, there is one thing that is certain: Aaron Rodgers is one of the best players to have ever put on a Green Bay Packers jersey. His 18 seasons in Green Bay (15 of which as the starting quarterback) brought countless memories to fans and saw Rodgers do things that very few, if any, other players have done in the history of the NFL.
Today, in 2024, Packers fans have mixed feelings regarding Rodgers. His divorce from the organization was far from clean and the last few years were filled with what many feel was unnecessary drama. Still, it is hard to ignore the memories, the records, the MVPs, and the Super Bowl.
In other words, Rodgers is remembered fondly by most Packers fans when they take his entire career into account instead of the last few seasons (during which he won two of his four NFL MVP Awards). This is why Packers fans, in particular, took to social media to express their outrage at where ESPN has the future Pro Football Hall of Famer ranked on their top-100 athletes of the 21st Century list.
ESPN Ranks Former Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the 91st-Greatest Athlete of the 21st Century
On Monday, ESPN released its first installment of its countdown of the 100 greatest professional athletes in the 21st Century. They released numbers 100-76 first, and Rodgers found himself ranked 91st:
Key accomplishments: Four-time NFL MVP, 10-time Pro Bowler, four-time first-team All-Pro, HOF All-2010s team, Super Bowl XLV MVP, 475 pass TDs (Packers’ career leader).
“Of all the superlatives and milestones that can be used to explain Rodgers’ greatness, here’s one that often gets overlooked. He’s the NFL’s career leader in touchdown-to-interception ratio (475 TDs, 105 INTS). In that way, he was the anti-Brett Favre, yet he carried on Favre’s remarkable run of success in Green Bay before getting traded to the Jets. Packers coach Matt LaFleur perhaps described Rodgers’ impact best when he said near the end of Rodgers’ run with the Packers: ‘A lot of people have been rewarded, quite frankly, because of his ability to go out there and play.'” — Rob Demovsky
While it surely an honor just to make a list that ranks the greatest professional athletes across all sports, 91 does seem a little low for Rodgers. After all, he won the NFL MVP Award four times in 15 years. The only NFL player with more MVP Awards is Peyton Manning.
Green Bay Packers Fans React to Aaron Rodgers’ Ranking
In any case, Packers fans sure thought Rodgers was ranked far too low, and they let everyone know about it on social media:
No one is going to accuse me of being an Aaron Rodgers homer but this is an absurd ranking for a four-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP. https://t.co/D1dsy7AtEc
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) July 15, 2024
List of professional athletes with more MVP awards than Aaron Rodgers since 2000:
1. Peyton Manning
That’s it. That’s the list. https://t.co/nriVTR2kDK
— Eli Berkovits (@BookOfEli_NFL) July 15, 2024
every list that’s ever been made on the internet sucks https://t.co/llr3kFWtcq
— zach jacobson (@zacobson) July 15, 2024
Make it make sense. I don’t even like Rodgers but this is blasphemous 😭 https://t.co/PlIf4Vu797 pic.twitter.com/dKi0cCEOmI
— Aidin (@Curry_Kliq) July 15, 2024
Clear as day ESPN let their personal hatred for Rodgers get in the way of this list. Not even worth reading the rest https://t.co/Ewc8l6jD9h
— 🧀 Head (@Rodgersisagoat) July 15, 2024
Aaron Rodgers at 91 out of 100 seems criminal https://t.co/8B3FoMQY8K
— 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚🏝️ (@CloudOfRaine) July 15, 2024
When it all comes down to it, most Packers fans will still support Rodgers’ legacy and hold it in high regard.
He really was a special player in team history.
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