Now should Rodgers play?

Column: RICK SOLEM
ricks@mwfbroadcasting.com

He has to play now. Right?

Can we all agree now, that Aaron Rodgers should play?

I thought he should, regardless – if healthy, of course.

But now … now, everyone will want him to play. Maybe even if he’s not quite 100 percent.

The season is not lost. All it took was a single win … out of six games (1-4-1 without Rodgers).

I still say they should have called Brett Favre (did they ever call him?) all those weeks ago. With Favre, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The Packers would be 11-2 and fighting Seattle for home field advantage, and Rodgers could just sit back and watch until he was good to go.

But, here they are, 6-6-1, a game and a half from the division lead after a beautiful 22-21 come-from-behind win over a team that’s mustered up three wins in 14 weeks.

And now, what’s the phrase, “The Pack is Back” (it’s not even proper grammar … it’s the “Pack are back,” people)?

So Rodgers needs to play, and they’ll surely win a Super Bowl.

That will be most people’s thoughts heading into Dallas, I reckon.

Yeah, I said, “I reckon.” We’re in Dallas now, get it?

So, before Week 14, the overall consensus seemed to be sit Aaron Rodgers for the season, don’t risk an injury and throw in the towel, because the season is lost. There’s no way to come back from two whole games against the mighty Detroit Lions.

You know, the Lions, that team that’s historically been a powerhouse every season (one playoff appearance in the 21st century).

Rodgers’ playing and the Packers record, however, never mattered to me.

I thought he should play regardless of a Detroit win or Green Bay loss, because he would be healthy. 

That’s it. That’s the only reason why he should play. If he can, he should, because he could come back next year and break something important on the first play of the preseason and maybe never be the same (see the Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose).

On top of that, he has an obligation to the fans. He’s being paid nearly a $1 million a game and people are paying hundreds of dollars to sit on aluminum bleachers in a snow storm to watch … whatever that was Sunday.

The fans booed at halftime. You know, those ever-so-loyal Green Bay diehards. Side note: I’ve watched Favre booed off the field at halftime … twice.

Another side note: I’ve never seen Favre lose at Lambeau (7-0).

Last side note, not quite related to the first two: I wasn’t booing, but I may have been cheering for John Elway in two of those games.

But enough about fans booing bad football. It happens. Maybe it should happen more. Just stop calling fans loyal.

Where was I? Oh yeah … so, here Green Bay is, a game out of the division lead. What if he can’t play?

Can we call Favre now? He loves playing in Dallas … and in domes.

OK, I’m kidding. If you remember, he wasn’t very good in Dallas or domes.

And I know they’re not calling Favre. I’ll never bring it up again (unless Rodgers gets injured in Week 17 as Green Bay is about to head into the playoffs. Then they had better call Favre!).

I’m guessing nobody wants Rodgers to sit now.

I don’t understand why anyone would think he’d sit if healthy, and they lost in Week 14 and Detroit won, anyway.

That doesn’t happen in the NFL.

If players didn’t play once there team was out of the playoff hunt, a lot of players wouldn’t be playing and the NFL would be even more horrible to watch (I’ll get to that later this week).

Matt Ryan, Tony Gonzalez and company should have hung it up weeks ago.

Why does Adrian Peterson play for the Vikings? He was hurt today. He should have been sitting … maybe after Week 1.

How about Ben Roethlisberger or Troy Palamalu with Pittsburgh? They aren’t going to the playoffs.

So, why do they play? The fans, right?

Yes, the fans … and maybe the owners still want people to go to the games and pay to drink a lot of … soda.