“GO PACK GO! GO PACK GO!” If you have ever been to a Green Bay Packers Football game, or watched a game on television, these exact words will NOT EVER be forgotten! Another unforgettable moment, as long as you are in one of the end zones, is the Lambeau Leap. The Lambeau Leap was invented by Green Bay Packer Leroy Bulter in 1993. Butler forced a fumble and another Green Bay Packer, Reggie White, recovered the fumble and lateralled it back to Butler for a touchdown. Butler then jumped into the stands where the fans could finish cheering with him! When it comes to football, one of the main players of the game is the quarterback. The quarterback throws first downs, touchdowns, and even interceptions. Green Bay Packer had an outstanding quarterback for numerous years, Brett Favre. With Favre retiring, getting traded, retiring again, getting trading again, and then finally retiring once and for all, the Packers backup quarterback had to come into play. Who was that? Aaron Rodgers! Every team in the National Football League has rivals. One of the biggest Packer rival is the Chicago Bears. Jay Culter is the quarterback for “Da Bears.” Both the Packers and the Bears had an exceptional 2010 football season. The question lies ahead: Which team has the star-smashing quarterback? Rodgers and Culter may be friends off-the-field, but when it comes to performances on the field, Rodger is statistically the outstanding quarterback. Aaron Rodgers grew up in Chico, California. Rodgers started his college career at Butte Community College in 2002. He transferred to the University of California in 2003 where he was the starting quarterback. In 2003, Rodgers received the Insight Bowl Offensive Most Valuable Player. In 2004, Rodgers also received the Honorable mention All-American by Sports Illustrated. These are just a few of his college awards and honors. Rodgers got drafted for the Green Bay Packers in 2005. Rodgers was the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers starting in 2009. Jay Culter grew up in Santa Claus, Indiana. Santa Claus, Indiana is known as the Christmas town. Culter attended Vanderbilt University where he was the star quarterback on the football team. He was the quarterback for Vanderbilt University from 2002-2005. Cutler was named the Offensive Player of the Year in 2005. He also holds many records at the university. Cutler holds the total passing yards with 8,697 yards. He also holds the most touchdown passes with 59 passes. The Denver Broncos drafted Cutler in 2006. He became the starting quarterback in November 2006. Until 2009, Cutler remained the starting quarterback for the Broncos until he was traded to the Chicago Bears. Cutler started as the first-string quarterback as soon as he arrived on the Chicago Bears’ territory. Rodgers and Culter were first-string quarterbacks in the 2010 National Football League, otherwise known as the NFL. They are both part of the National Football Conference North Teams. Both quarterbacks are right-handed and have very powerful throwing arms. In the NFL, quarterbacks are needed with a strong throwing arm. Quarterbacks can make short passes as well as very long passes. During the 2010 regular season, Rodgers’ wore a number 12 jersey for the Green Bay packers. The 27 year-old quarterback stood 6 feet, 2 inches and weighed 225 pounds. Cutler wore a number 6 jersey for the Chicago Bears. He was 28 years old and also stood 6 feet, 2inches. He weighed in five pounds lighter than Rodgers at 220 pounds.
Rodgers’ 2010 career was very successful, even though he has faults. Rodgers made 475 passing attempts. Out of the 475 attempts, 312 of the passes were completions. The percentage of the passing attempts is 65.7%. Rodgers’ total passing yards for the 2010 season was 3,922 yards. Each time he made a completed pass, the quarterback was averaging a throw of 8.3 yards. The number of net passing yards per game was 248.6 yards. His longest pass thrown all season was 86 yards. Touchdowns are needed to win the game of football. Rodgers threw 28 touchdowns for a percentage of 5.9%. Rodgers threw 11 interceptions for a percentage of 2.3%. 2.3% is an incredible rating for passing interceptions. Every player has faults; Rodgers fault was getting sacked! Yes, sacked! Rodgers got smashed to the ground 31 times! Because of these hard-hitting sacks, he lost the team 193 yards! Rodgers overall passer rating was 101.2. The passer rating is the measure of performance of a quarterback. The overall passer rating is based off completion percentage, passing yardage, number of touchdowns and interceptions. The highest passer rating a quarterback can receive is 158.3.
Cutler has a good season also, but falling short of Rodgers’ statistics. Cutler made 432 passing attempts. Out of those 432 passing attempts, only 261 passes were completed for a total percentage of only 60.4%. This is just under Rodger’s passing attempt by about five percent. Cutler’s total passing yards also fell short of Rodgers’. Culter had a total of 3,274 yards with a percentage of 7.6 yards per pass. Cutler’s net passing yardage per game was 194.8. His longest pass was just three more yards than Rodgers’ at 89 yards. Cutler fell short of Rodgers’ completed touchdown passes; Cutler has 23 completed touchdown passes for a percentage rating of 5.3. Cutler had an interception rating of 3.7%; that would lead to a total of 16 interceptions. Aaron may have lost 193 yards on sacks, but Cutler lost a dreadful amount of yards, 352 yards to be exact. Cutler’s overall passer rating was a dreadful 86.3.
A quarterback is a very hard position to handle. The team and the fans rely on the quarterback to make the key plays and help score touchdowns so the team can win. Even though quarterbacks seem to be the key role in football, the other team members must catch the ball and help defend sacks. An old saying states, “There is no I in team.” Without the help of teammates, Rodgers 2010 career would not have been as good as it was. Do you honestly think Aaron could have led his team to Super Bowl XLV that same season? Jay and Aaron come from two different sides of the United States, attended different colleges, and both got drafted in the NFL as rivals. Rodger may have a fault here or there, but Cutler’s faults shows he has more.