Green & Yellow

**Disclaimer: Written before the 2011 Super Bowl**
The month of February has proven to be both a great time of the month and also somewhat depressing as well. Single Awareness Day (otherwise known as Valentine’s Day) is around the corner and sadly the NFL season officially comes to an end for awhile. However, that means the Super Bowl is this weekend, America’s favorite unofficial holiday. Whether one watches it for the game, the commercials, to simply be with friends at a bar/party or all of the above like myself, Super Bowl Sunday is an eventful day. Those who will watch the game religiously this Sunday know exactly what’s at stake. The mighty Pittsburgh Steelers versus the determined Green Bay Packers will both fight for every play during Sunday’s matchup. Pittsburgh is looking to gain their 3rd championship in the last 5 years, while Green Bay needs to prove that they don’t need Brett Favre to win a Super Bowl.
Brett Favre played 16 seasons with the Packers from 1992 to 2007. Think about that for a second. When he started playing for them in ’92, millions of newborns had been brought into this world. When he left the Packers, those same newborns are now teenagers. So it’s safe to say that he had a major impact on this town, generating millions of fans and even his own restaurant in Green Bay. Within those 16 years, he gained over 2000 passing yards, over 400 passing touchdowns and two Super Bowl appearances with 1 championship. Favre has gained an admirable amount of respect in the football world.
After the 2007 season, he announced that he was going to retire but decided to return as a New York Jet. That somewhat left Green Bay in the dust. Second string Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had some major, MAJOR shoes to fill. Coming fresh out of Cal Berkeley, he knew what had to be done to get the team and its city back on their feet. Well, fast forward to 2011 and he has taken his team to a Super Bowl matchup.
Not being a fan of either team for this particular game (I’m a St. Louis fan and yes it’s torture), I always root for the underdog. The Steelers have some major guns on their side like Roethlisberger, Ward and Polamalu to name a few, so this team knows exactly what it takes to bring their city another victory. However, considering Green Bay’s past history and their strange transition between quarterbacks, they deserve this championship. Yeah, yeah the Steelers are an amazing team but I’m sorry, if they win this Sunday, that just makes the NFL boring and predictable. Green Bay hasn’t won since 1997 and far overdue to win something major.
But the question still remains. Can Aaron Rodgers escape the shadow of Brett Favre? Should he be called the new “Brett Favre” of Green Bay? The one thing that is going to especially bother me are all of the pregame reports on Sunday before the game actually begins. I can see it now. A short, mini-documentary will air and will be ALL about Favre, his last Super Bowl appearance and then transition to Rodgers briefly. When it ends, the reporters will then give their insights about Rodgers filling in the shoes for Favre. Just watch for it this Sunday, it’s going to happen. If I’m wrong, then the 2012 apocalypse is going to happen.
If I were in charge of FOX, I would urge the reporters to not speak heavily about Favre. I understand that it’s pretty difficult to talk about the Packers being in the Super Bowl and not think about what Favre has done for this great franchise. However, this isn’t 1997 when Favre was young and agile. All eyes should be on Rodgers and I don’t think it’s fair to him or the Packers’ organization. Everyone usually forgets that it should never be about one particular player of a certain team (I’m referring to you, Lebron). It’s about the team franchise first and then using their money to formulate good players and coaches. Just like graduation is usually for the parents of the student graduating, winning a football game is for the fans. Who doesn’t love bragging to an opposing fan when your team wins, especially when the underdog wins?
Sunday should prove to be an amazing game. If it’s anything like last year’s game with the Saints defeating the Colts, then we should have ourselves a football game. Although the only minor thing that worries me are the Madden predictions. Every year before the Super Bowl, EA Sports will simulate the Super Bowl using their successful video game Madden 11, selecting the teams that will play on Sunday. According to the simulation, the Steelers will defeat the Packers 24-20. Madden usually has the most accurate stats for each individual player and the team as a whole in real life. What’s even worse is that Madden has been correct in selecting the winning teams in the past 5 years, with the scores eerily close to the actual final scores. My obviously hope is that Madden is wrong and that Green Bay can overcome the Steel Curtain.
By Aaron Frias