You’d think that after his impressive run at Butte Community College, followed by a career at Division 1 school University of California, Berkeley, that Aaron Rodgers would’ve been the NFL’s top pick going into the 2005 battle. Of course, we know him today as one of the most successful NFL quarterbacks, so something had to go well for him, right? Well, as per CBS Sports, Rodgers’ transition to pro life wasn’t as seamless as you might think because of draft competition.
For the 2005 draft, Rodgers was up against player Alex Smith from Utah to be the first-round pick for the San Francisco 49ers, a team that clearly meant a lot to him. But, instead of opting for the community college rookie-turned-Cal beast, the 49ers chose Smith, and, as such, Rodgers’ standing in the draft started to decline. He fell from the No. 1 spot to No. 24 before eventually getting picked by the Green Bay Packers, as CBS Sports noted. While he landed a spot on the team, Rodgers was certainly not the star. He sat behind starting quarterback Brett Favre for three years before he got his shot.
