Rodgers more nervous for "Ellen"

You'd think the stakes - and the stage - couldn't get any bigger for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in Super Bowl XLV. But it turns out the MVP of the Packers' win over the Steelers was more nervous for an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show than he was for the Super Bowl. 

“I was real nervous for Ellen, I really was. I even told her, I said, ‘I wasn’t nervous for the Super Bowl, but I’m pretty dang nervous for your show,'" Rodgers said in an appearance on ESPN Radio Milwaukee with Homer, courtesy of Sportsradiointerviews.com. "She was great. I’ve become a bigger fan over the last few months as she’s voiced her strong feelings about our team.”

So why all the nerves for Ellen and not for a David Letterman appearance the night after the Super Bowl? 

"I know how big her show is," Rodgers said. "I know you wouldn’t know anything about this, but people actually tune in and watch her show. … I got to Ellen at like 2:45 and didn’t go on the air until 4:20 or 4:30 so I had a lot of time to think about not making myself look stupid and that’s when I get nervous.”

Rodgers also addressed one of his father's stories that Aaron, as a 2-year-old, could sit in front of the TV and watch an entire NFL game. 

“I think he might have said three, but you know, from your stories, every story gets better as the years pass," he said. "As we look back on the Super Bowl in 20 years, I probably would have passed for 450 yards and five touchdowns. The stats might not show that, but every story gets better over the years. I was a big football fan for as long as I could remember. … It makes for a pretty good story.”

What about the story that he could recognize formations at age 5?

“I could probably identify what side Jerry Rice was to and what side John Taylor was to and where Brent Jones was lining up. … You still can’t identify plays and you’re 65.”