Aaron Rodgers just can?t catch a break.

After three years of waiting in the wings as the heir to the
Green Bay Packers? starting quarterback job held by Brett Favre for 253 regular
season games that spanned 16 years, Rodgers finally got a chance to move into
the role when Favre suddenly retired Tuesday.

And it could not have come at a worse time.

Because 2007 was the team?s best season since they lost in
Super Bowl XXXII a decade ago, fans are going to be asking a lot more of
Rodgers in his first season at the helm than they would have if the team had
limped through another season.

Had Favre, the NFL?s all-time leader in yards, touchdowns
and completions, decided to hang up the cleats after his 16th season ? a year
in which Green Bay went just 8-8 ?there would still be plenty of pressure on
Rodgers. But it wouldn?t be as lofty as the expectations he faces now that the
team is coming off a campaign when they were a single home overtime loss away
from reaching the Super Bowl.

After the Packers? (very unexpected) 13-3 record last
season, Rodgers? miscues (and there will be lots of them) are going to be a lot
more noticeable if the team doesn?t play up to the level of a year ago, which
even with Favre was going to be pretty tough to do.

Considering Rodgers? history, though, it is not surprising
that the three-year veteran is now faced with such a tough situation.

Favre?s odd choice of time to retire is just the latest in a
series of unfortunate events that have spanned Rogers? professional career
since he became a member of the league on draft day in 2005.

At one point considered a possible No. 1 overall selection
in the days leading up to the draft, Rodgers, who accepted the NFL?s invitation
to be present at the draft, was left waiting on camera for hours as team by
team bypassed him. By the time he was finally selected by Green Bay with the 23rd
pick, Rodgers was left to hold a clipboard on the Packers? sideline indefinitely
while wondering when the old man was finally going to retire.

In 2006, it looked like fortune had shined on Rodgers when
Favre went down with an injury against the Patriots, opening a chance for him
to see some playing time. The backup quarterback quickly hurt his foot,
however, and was forced to miss the remainder of the season with the injury.
Not that he was going to play much more anyway.

Now Rodgers is charged with the task of replacing one of the
greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game.

Consider this: Brett Favre?s last pass as a Packer was an
interception in overtime that cost his team not just the game, but a trip to
the Super Bowl. And he?s still the most revered figure in the state of
Wisconsin. Think the fans will extend Rogers the same courtesy if he costs them
a shot at a title?

Brett Favre may have been picked off more than any player in
the history of the game, but Aaron Rodgers can still expect to hear the Lambeau
faithful erupt into a series of boos when he turns the ball over the first time
? and probably every subsequent one, too ? in 2008.

Rodgers isn?t the first player charged with the task of
replacing a legend, but there have been few players whose status is on par with
Favre?s.

Over the course of his career, he could throw for more
touchdowns and yards than Favre, win more championships, score a role of his
own in a romantic comedy, and he still might not be loved as much as the
gunslinging kid from Mississippi.

Ideally, Favre would have played one more season, the Packers
would not have been as successful as last year, and Rodgers would come in with
low expectations. Instead, Rodgers is coming in to a bad situation that?s even
worse than it was a year ago.

There?s just too much to live up to.

Out of respect, Rodgers will probably be cheered when he
takes the field for the first time as the team?s starting quarterback. And for
the guy that?s had trouble catching breaks in the league, he should enjoy it.

Those first cheers might be the last.

?

Mike is a sophomore majoring in political science. If you
think Aaron Rodgers is going to live up to Favre?s numbers, or might make a
surprise appearance in a sequel to ?There?s Something About Mary,? he can be
reached at [email protected].