Green Bay Packers superstar Aaron Rodgers has put his rivalry with Tom Brady to one side as he picked the NFL icon as the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Rodgers is undoubtedly one of the most talented quarterbacks to ever play the game, leading the league in passing yards on four occasions while winning four MVP awards across his illustrious career. The 37-year-old is also a champion, winning Super Bowl XLV after the 2010 season.
The Packers quarterback has struggled in 2022, but he has ultimately been one of the best signal-callers seen in the NFL since he was drafted back in 2005. Rodgers is generally considered among the likes of Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees when ranking the all-time greats - but he issued a quartet of names when asked to offer the four greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.
While on NBA star Serge Ibaka’s ‘How Hungry Are You’ show, Rodgers listed former Packers star Brett Favre as well as San Francisco 49ers legends Joe Montana and Steve Young alongside Brady. He made his feelings clear over who stands alone as the ‘GOAT’, though.
“I mean I think, greatest quarterback? I think you gotta go by championships, probably,” Rodgers said. “So that’d be Tom.”
It is interesting to hear Rodgers name Brady as the greatest quarterback in NFL history given their intertwined careers and simmering rivalry. For many, the 45-year-old cemented his place as the best after winning his seventh Super Bowl ring and first outside New England when he triumphed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.
Rodgers was one of the names Brady knocked off en route to the Super Bowl, defeating the Packers at Lambeau Field in the NFC Championship Game. It was the fourth time the pair have met one another on the field - and the only time it’s happened during the playoffs.
Brady and Rodgers have faced off on five occasions, with the seven-time Super Bowl champion leading the head-to-head battle 3-2 while he also holds more NFL records including career quarterback wins, pass completions, touchdown passes and passing yards. Rodgers, however, has one more NFL MVP award to his name.
Favre was another eyebrow-raising inclusion by Rodgers given the perceived frosty relationship between the pair. Favre - a Super Bowl champion with the Packers - was the incumbent in Green Bay when Rodgers was selected in the first round back in 2005, and an uneasy dynamic developed whereby the ageing legend played while the young apprentice waited in the wings.
Rodgers has led the Packers to a 6-8 record - the same as Brady’s Buccaneers - with their playoff hopes hanging by a thread. Green Bay will travel to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to face the 8-6 Dolphins on Christmas Day on Sunday.
