Class Act

He waited through nearly the entire first round in the green room on draft day. He rode the pine for three years behind a legend, amid doubts. When he finally got his shot to take over the team, fans cussed at him and wanted to fight him. He went 6-10 in his first season as starter, creating more doubt and animosity. When he took the Packers to the playoffs last year, he lost and got the unfair rap of being "unable to win in the playoffs."

Rodgers reached the pinnacle by staying classy

He's answered a thousand questions about Brett Favre. He continued on, putting in the work to be the best, though not many noticed. He got back to the playoffs. He won the Super Bowl. And one thing remained a constant through his first six, turbulant years: Aaron Rodgers handled it all with class.

It's a trait often forgotten about in today's world but when you see it, you realize how great an asset it is. No one could blame him if he took a Shaq moment. No one deserves to call out all the doubters, haters, Favre-worshipers, disloyal Packer fans more than Rodgers. But he's too classy. That's not where he lives. He lives up on the high road, far above the negativity that tried to bring him down for so many years. Now he lets his ring speak for itself.

After his Super Bowl performance, which some have called one of the greatest by a quarterback in the big game, he is officially in that "elite group" of NFL quarterbacks. His ring and Super Bowl MVP trophy confirm  it. He needed to play a flawless game versus Pittsburgh and he did just that. He's one of the best playing the position right now and he's one of the classiest professional athletes in any sport.

Rodgers deserves to let people know they wrongly doubted him. But don't expect him to anything of the sort. He's too grounded, puts in too much time, works too hard to succumb to that pitfall. He'll continue on the way he always has: with class.