The Lucky One

As far as the Brett Favre rollar coaster goes, it's hard for many people to tell who has benefited most from this crazy drama. (For those of you who wonder if you missed something, don't worry. He's still currently playing starting quarterback for the Vikings, and he recently took down his old Packers team at Lambeau.)





So who got off best from this? A lot of people would say Favre, but I disagree. Yes, he is back, and yes, he's currently part of a 7-1 squad. But there is a flip side, and that is his public image. While most of Minnesota labels him a hero, a good portion of Green Bay now despises him, as does some of the fans in other cities who are sick of the chaos.



A good case could be made for the Vikings, who are now at the top of their division. Chances are that they probably did get off best. But there is also another who got off very good here, but often isn't thought of.



Aaron Rodgers.



You're probably confused. But it makes sense if you think about it. In the past, several quarterbacks who replaced a legend were unfortunately booed. To make this simple, we'll refer to the fans that boo them as the "hate" fans.



The hate fans haven't really booed Rodgers at all. Why? Because they have a new target: Favre himself. They are angry that he came back to play for a rival team. That's the way hate fans are.



Favre's loyalists won't boo Rodgers because they know that Favre would never agree to it. So that means that there's pretty much no one out there to boo Rodgers.



How lucky he is.



Clearly Rodgers is enjoying the benefits. His passing statistics are among the best in the league. Sure he lost to Favre last week, but who cares? It wasn't Rodgers' fault. The Packers lost those games because their running game was weak, and their subpar defense couldn't handle Favre and Peterson. Rodgers remains one of the best in the league.

His team may struggle, but considering the type of peril that he could be in right now, Rodgers should be thankful.