Aaron Charles Rodgers is a professional American footballer who plays
for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He became
well-known especially after he led his team to a Super Bowl championship
in 2011. Born in Chico, California, Aaron was a football enthusiast
from quite an early age. From the age of two, he was able to silently
sit through and enjoy an entire NFL game—a rare trait for a toddler! He
was also involved with other sports such as baseball and basketball as a
young boy. Though he was expected to be picked by the San Francisco
49ers during the 2005 NFL draft, the team drafted another player Alex
Smith instead of him. Rodgers was instead picked by the Green Bay
Packers. Throughout his career, he has proved his worth with his amazing
skills as well as records. His records include ‘Best touchdown to
interception ratio in NFL history’ and ‘Most consecutive games without
multiple interceptions’. Rodgers is also known for his philanthropic
works. He raised $50,000 for the MACC fund which contributes towards
cancer research.
- Aaron Charles Rodgers was born on 2 December 1983, in Chico, California in the United States. His father, Edward Wesley Rodgers, works as a chiropractor, and his mother’s name is Darla Leigh. He is of English, Irish, and German ancestry. He is the second of three sons.
- From an early age, he received inspiration form his father, who himself used to be a footballer, playing for the Chico State Wildcats for three years. Rodgers learnt fast and by the time he was five, he could throw a football through a hanging tire.
- Rodgers attended several schools, such as Vose Elementary High School and Pleasant Valley High School. As a talented player, he set a variety of records.
- After completing his high school graduation, he attended the Butte Community College, located in Northern California. Later, he received an athletic scholarship from the University of California. There, he played for the California Golden Bears football team for a year.
- He played well for the team, and led it to several victories. In the Insight Bowl, he was named ‘Most Valuable Player’. He set a school record as well, for consecutive completed passes with 26 touchdowns and tied an NCAA record with 23 consecutive passes completed in a game.
- In the 2005 NFL Draft, Aaron Rodgers was selected by the Green Bay Packers, based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Though he had a great desire to be picked by the San Francisco 49ers, they had instead picked Alex Smith.
- In August 2005, he agreed to a five-year deal with the Packers which was worth $7.7 million. Despite his brilliant skills, very little of him was seen in his rookie season.
- After the retirement of Brett Favre in 2008, Rodgers became the starting quarterback for the 2008 season. Passing for over 4000 yards and throwing for 28 touchdowns in his first season, Rodgers proved to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
- His performance in the 2009 season was equally brilliant, and he was named NFL Offensive Player of the Month for October 2009 when he passed for 988 yards, and completed 74.5 percent of his passes as well.
- In 2010, he was named the ‘FedEx Air NFL Player of the Year’ due to his excellent passing performance during the season. Along with setting numerous NFL records in both 2010 and 2011, he successfully led his team to victory in the 2011 Superbowl.
- Over the next few years of his career, he maintained his spot successfully among the top performers in the successive seasons.
- He helped lead the Packers to a NFL North Title in 2016. He finished the season with 401 completions and 610 attempts, 65.7% completion percentage, 40 touchdown passes, seven interceptions, a passer rating of 104.2, and 369 rushing yards, along with four rushing touchdowns. He was also ranked on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016, as the sixth best player.
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