Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers prides himself on being an NFL historian. He watches old games, understands the past and knows his place in the long history of this great game. Right now, Rodgers realizes his legacy is somewhat of a mixed bag.
Rodgers has compiled one big regular season after another and led the Packers to a win in the 45th Super Bowl. Since his Super Bowl victory 11 years ago, though, Rodgers’ play in the postseason has largely ranged between mediocre and abysmal.
And when it comes specifically to NFC Championship games, Rodgers is just 1-4 and he’s delivered five disappointing performances. As Green Bay’s 2022 postseason begins, Rodgers has a chance to enter the discussion of greatest quarterbacks in league history.
The only way that will happen, though is for Rodgers to end a decade-long playoff drought and win his second Super Bowl in Green Bay.
That journey starts Saturday when the Packers host San Francisco at 7:15 p.m. Rodgers is 0-3 lifetime in the postseason against the 49ers — his boyhood team and the first of several organizations that snubbed him in the 2005 NFL Draft.
“Obviously I would love to win one. It’s been a long time,” said Rodgers, who has a 7-8 postseason record since winning the 45th Super Bowl. “The Super Bowl is obviously a big part of the way that quarterbacks are judged and teams in general are judged.”
There are just 12 quarterbacks in NFL history with two Super Bowl championships, or more. There are another 21 quarterbacks that have won a single Super Bowl. Rodgers currently falls into category No. 2, in large part due to his own dreadful playoff performances.
The list of quarterbacks with multiple Super Bowl wins is a remarkable one. Tom Brady leads the way with seven, while Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana have four each.
Troy Aikman won three Super Bowl titles, while Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, John Elway, Ben Roethlisberger, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett and Bob Griese all have two. Currently, Rodgers finds himself in a large pool of quarterbacks that have won at least one Super Bowl.
While that list includes Hall of Famers such as Brett Favre, Steve Young, Kurt Warner and Joe Namath, it also includes more non-descript players such as Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Jeff Hostetler and Mark Rypien.
Rodgers has a chance to separate himself from many of those players by winning a second Super Bowl. Based on his recent postseason performances, though, betting on Rodgers would be risky business.
Rodgers has gone just 1-4 in NFC Championship Games. That ties him with Ken Stabler and Donovan McNabb for the lowest winning percentage (.200) among quarterbacks with at least five trips to the conference title game.
And even in his one win — the 2010 title game against Chicago — Rodgers had a brutal day. Rodgers is a first-ballot Hall of Famer and arguably one of the top-10 to 15 quarterbacks in NFL history. In many ways, though, his postseason résumé seems incomplete.
He’ll have a chance to cement his legacy in the next few weeks. Whether Rodgers can deliver — or simply delivers more postseason disappointment — has all of Packer Nation holding their collective breath.
