#AaronRodgers - Just Like Us

It seems to me one quality fans find most endearing in the men and women they cheer on their respective fields of play is that we have something in common.

Maybe not on the court or field, of course, but we love the idea that we have a connection.  It makes the fan - player relationship more meaningful and makes them individuals, not mercenaries.

Just look at Aaron Rodgers in the photo (in the Sunday Milwaukee Journal Sentinal - www.jsonline.com) between Wisconsin fan and U. S. Open double winner Andy North and girlfriend and actress Olivia Munn at Wisconsin's Elite Eight win Saturday.  They were at the win over North Carolina too, and Aaron attended the Elite Eight win over Arizona last year, too.

I know he didn't have to be there.  He didn't need to build up his legacy with Packer fans in Cheese-country.  Rodgers isn't an alumnus, he arrived in Green Bay from California via Butte Community College  and the University of California - Berkley.  The confident quarterback sat behind Brett Favre until Favre's first retirement.

Leading an NFL team as quarterback entails many things, whether the player likes it or not.  Too much credit in wins; too much blame in losses.  A lot of money and fame and life in fishbowl.  Aaron has navigated that treacherous path quite well.

Yet, that role doesn't mean he has to root for the other teams in the state.  Aaron does go to the games - he's attended Brewer games; sits on the court for the Bucks; and, in his off season, has cheered for the Badgers.

Badger forward Sam Dekker said last week that Rodgers had reached out to him during the season with encouragement and challenged him to a game of one on one.  That's great.

After the game, Rodgers congratulated Dekker and the Badgers on court (thanks to a credential from the U.W. Athletic Director).  Somehow, this became an issue for one reporter.

It has to be a hassle for a public figure like Rodgers to attend a game like that.  He didn't have to go and no one could expect him to attend.

It's great he attended, and I like the way he responded to the criticism that he should answer questions or shouldn't cheer for the Badgers.  He's lived in Wisconsin for ten years.

On that level, it's a fan's dream, he is one of us.   Thanks, Aaron, for representing the Packers and your adopted state so well!