Big Night for Rodgers

Let’s assume that Ted Thompson is correct.  And that he, like Mike McCarthy and the many other analysts and observers who think Aaron Rodgers will be be a good quarterback (like ESPN’s John Clayton), are right.  The key to his success, then, may be his ability to handle the pressure of replacing Brett Favre and how it affects him mentally.  It seems to me that quarterback, more than any other position (d-back is a close second) requires supreme confidence, and that quarterbacks with extraordinary athletic ability succeed or fail because they are confident in their ability and remain so.

So Rodgers’ performance tonight — as the unquestioned starter for the Green Bay Packers, as the guy who is good enough to get Brett Favre moved out of Green Bay — will be huge for his confidence.

In general, I think Rodgers has handled the past month very well.  But Tom Silverstein has an interesting and potentially revealing snippet from Rodgers about his mental state going into the game tonight

“You think about that all the time,” Rodgers said of running through the tunnel as the Packers’ starting quarterback. “Definitely, it’s going to be an exciting time. Hopefully there will be more cheers than boos.

“Sometimes there’s more boos than cheers in my dream. But we have a great group of fans and I’m excited about the opportunity to be one of the leaders on this football team and just get things rolling into the regular season.”

I hope there are more cheers than boos tonight…