Super Bowl XLV: Aaron Rodgers Now Owns Green Bay—Hand Over the Reins, Favre

Who said experience matters? Not Aaron Rodgers. Hold that belt high, because you earned it.

At some point in this season, too many people counted out the Green Bay Packers after key injuries and a 8-6 record. Clearly, they were all wrong. Besides the fact that the Packers were my preseason Super Bowl pick, this didn't surprise me.

Throughout the season, Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers have shown resilience, from dealing with injuries to Ryan Grant and getting past several closes in games that were in there hands. Over the season, the Packers lost four games by three points or less, and even in games where Rodgers was out, that team just never surrendered, and that's the formula to any success.

At one point in his football career, Aaron Rodgers was just unwanted. Not one Division I school was interested in Rodgers out of high school, which led him to Butte Community College, in California.

After his transfer to Cal in 2003, Rodgers was named the starting QB after the fifth game of the season, and it's safe to say they didn't regret it.

Fast-forward, and once again in his career he was passed on by the 49ers in the 2005 draft and fell to the Packers with the 24th pick. Give him time behind Favre, and you have what you saw today.

Rodgers has developed into one of the most elite quarterbacks of the current group in the NFL, and today capped it off. Just right about now, some Packers fan somewhere is still doing the "belt celebration" that Rodgers made famous, and I can guarantee after today it will become iconic.

With all the talk of "experience" and what it means for someone like Big Ben, with two Super Bowl rings, you'd think a third-year starter like Aaron Rodgers would be at a disadvantage, but it wasn't the case.

Today, Rodgers followed in the footsteps of the other most recent legend in Green Bay history, and that's Brett Favre. Aaron Rodgers simply showed up, and despite injuries to crucial veterans, little seemed to bother him.

For that, we all must tip our cap to Rodgers.

For someone who's been following Rodgers since his tenure at Cal, I couldn't be prouder. If he hasn't edged his name in right behind Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, then someone has made a mistake.

Rodgers has been the hope of Green Bay since Favre left, but that's far behind. It's now officially time for Rodgers to be handed over the reigns, because there's nothing left to prove.