Rodgers' success with Pack well worth wait
The wait was going on five hours, and still nothing.
Aaron Rodgers' dream of playing for his beloved 49ers was long gone after they opted for Alex Smith with the first pick of the 2005 draft. And then it was one snub after another, with 22 more teams looking elsewhere. All of it captured on national television.
There sat Rodgers in the green room, staring forlornly after the teams decided they either didn't want or didn't need the quarterback. Finally, when the Packers' turn came at No. 24, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue called his name.
As Rodgers trudged to the podium to accept his congratulations from the commissioner, Tagliabue leaned over and whispered to Rodgers.
"He said, 'Good things come to those who wait,'" Rodgers recalled.
And that wasn't a perfunctory message, at least as far as Rodgers was concerned.
"I believed it," he said.
After all, it was simply the latest in a series of initial disappointments for Rodgers, who had managed to overcome the previous ones with a resolute sense of purpose. He recalled some of the previous slights. As a senior quarterback at Pleasant Valley High School in Chico, California, Rodgers was completely ignored by Division I schools. A year later, when he played at Butte Community College near Chico, it was only by accident that California coach Jeff Tedford noticed him on a recruiting trip for another player and offered Rodgers a chance to play.
And then, the ultimate dis: Even after a terrific performance at the 2005 Scouting Combine, the 49ers chose Smith over Rodgers, leading to an embarrassing drop that nearly saw him slide right out of the first round. It wasn't until the Packers' first-year general manager, Ted Thompson, took a chance on Rodgers that ended the uncomfortable scene.
Still, there was more waiting to come. Playing behind the legendary Favre, who had never missed a game since being traded to the Packers in 1992, Rodgers had to sit and wait once more.
And look at him now: After spending his first three seasons working with the backups on the Packers' scout teams in practice, Rodgers is one step away from winning the Super Bowl.
You'd better believe Rodgers took Tagliabue's words to heart.
"I'm fortunate to be in a situation where I'm surrounded by a number of great men, great people and guys who have done things the right way," Rodgers said. "I think one of the advantages I had of waiting is that I was more ready to play."
Besides, it wasn't as if Rodgers hated his time as the scout quarterback. In fact, he adored those times.
"That was my [equivalent] of playing the games," Rodgers said. "That was my Super Bowl every day, just trying to make plays on the scout team."
In fact, it was on the scout team that Rodgers came up with his unique touchdown celebration, where he uses his championship wrestling belt move. It started when he threw a long touchdown pass in practice to former Packers receiver Ruvell Martin.
"A lot of times, you've got guys who don't want to be part of the scout team, so you've got to do something to get them interested."
He hopes to do more of it on Sunday against the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. It would be the crowning achievement for an athlete who bided his time and paid his dues, making it to the top the hard way.
The long and improbable journey will have indeed been worth the wait.
