In the spring of 2005, the chill in the Green Bay air stuck around a little bit longer than usual. With the 24th pick in that year’s NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers selected quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the University of California, Berkeley. The pick was notable not so much for what it meant in the present, but for what it signified about the future.
The Packers had essentially drafted a quarterback to replace the face of their franchise, Brett Favre , who was heading into his 13th consecutive season as Green Bay’s starting quarterback, leading them to a Super Bowl title and seven division championships along the way. In the new book Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers , author Ian O’Connor zeroes in on the early days of the contentious, awkward relationship between Rodgers and Favre, who played a very strange game of mentor and pupil. For a full breakdown on Rodg ers and Favre’s relationship — including an update on where things stand now — keep reading: When the Packers drafted Rodgers in 2005, there was no question they had made a statement — and Favre had no problem expressing how he felt about it.
After the team had drafted his 21-year-old replacement plan, Favre, then 35, notoriously told reporters, “My contract doesn’t state I have to get him ready to play. Now hopefully he watches me and gets something from that.” In Out of the Darkness , Rodgers’ father , Ed , gave a peek behind the curtain of how things began to play out betwe.