Packer Perspective: In with the new, out with the old

By Mark Metzler

The NFL conference championship round showed us the next generation of NFL quarterbacks are here. At 28, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is the oldest and the best of the lot, but the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, 24, and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow, 26, aren’t far behind. It was unfortunate that Brock Purdy, 23, got hurt early. He was quite a story, and without him the 49ers didn’t have a chance.

The Chiefs and Bengals’ game was fun to watch. Mahomes and Burrow really played well. For Packers fans, we watched Marquez Valdes-Scantling come up big for the Chiefs when their other top receivers were hurt. Valdes-Scantling had over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown. He’s going to the Super Bowl. His former teammates have been home for weeks.

Without Purdy, the Eagles hammered the 49ers. It makes it a little harder to know how good the Eagles really are, but I will say they are awfully good, especially their offensive line. I think they will show well for the NFC. It should be an entertaining Super Bowl. The young quarterbacks are good for the game.

With those young quarterbacks in play, I looked up the ages of all the Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks. They tended to be younger than older, with the youngest being Ben Rothlisberger at 23, and the oldest being Tom Brady at 43. Brady was the next oldest as well at 41. Behind him was John Elway who won at ages 38 and 37. Johnny Unitas was also the winning quarterback of Super Bowl V at the age of 37.

For the Packers, Bart Starr was 33 and 34 when the Packers won Super Bowls I and II. Brett Favre was 27 when the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI, and Aaron Rodgers was 27 when the Packers won Super Bowl XLV. For both of them, you had to think there were more Super Bowls in their futures, but that wasn’t to be. It’s been disappointing, especially when you consider how good the Packers have been over the past 25 years.

Rodgers will not win another Super Bowl in Green Bay, and I don’t think he will win one anywhere else. It does look as if the Packers are gearing up to trade him, and it does look like the New York Jets are gearing up to have him become part of their team. They recently hired Nathaniel Hackett as their offensive coordinator. Hackett, the recently fired Broncos coach, was the offensive coordinator when Rodgers won his last two MVPs. Plus, Jets legend Joe Namath said he would happily see his number 12 un-retired so Rodgers could wear it in New York. Rodgers would make the Jets competitive enough to make the playoffs, but no one over 40 not named Tom Brady has ever won a Super Bowl. Rodgers will be 40 next year. Namath, by the way, was 25 when he engineered the Jets’ victory in Super Bowl III.

It will be a while before we know anything about Rodgers’ future with the Packers. But, one thing you can bet on is that he will make sure that the story is about him, and it is likely he will time it to take the focus off the rest of the NFL, even the Super Bowl, if at all possible.

The fans split fairly evenly about Rodgers staying or leaving. As I remember it, the split was about the same when Brett Favre was going through his drama leaving the Packers. That turned out well with Rodgers. The Packers did get a third-round pick for Favre. They will likely get two first-round picks for Rodgers. We’ll see what happens this time around. Jordan Love is no Aaron Rodgers. But, come to think about it, I said Aaron Rodgers is no Brett Favre.