Just as Aaron Rodgers will always be seen as the man who replaced Brett Favre as the Green Bay Packers' starting quarterback, Jordan Love will forever be viewed as the man who replaced Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers, of course, was taken in the first round of the NFL draft at a time when Favre was still playing fantastic football and had to wait three years before becoming Green Bay's QB1. And in a similar fashion, Love was taken in the first round when Rodgers was still playing at an elite level and had to wait three seasons before getting his shot as the Packers' starter. It's honestly a little eerie how similar their situations were.
Love will get his first and likely only chance to square off against Rodgers this Sunday night in primetime when the Packers travel to Western Pennsylvania to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. And in this high-profile matchup, Love has a shot to create a legacy moment for himself that Rodgers couldn't by beating his predecessor in his first try.
Aaron Rodgers lost his first head-to-head matchup with Brett Favre (and his second)
Rodgers, who took over for Favre in 2008, faced his predecessor for the first time in Week 4 of the 2009 season when the Packers traveled to the old Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to face Favre's Minnesota Vikings.
And while Rodgers played a strong game, completing 70.3 percent of his passes for what was a then-career-high 384 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, it was Favre who walked away with a 30-23 victory after connecting on 77.4 percent of his throws for 271 yards with three touchdowns and no picks.
The two teams met again in Week 8, this time at Lambeau Field, and while Rodgers put forth another solid effort, completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 287 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, Favre once again came out on top, completing 60.7 percent of his passes for 244 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions in a 38-26 Vikings victory.
Now, Rodgers did eventually get his revenge, beating Favre both times the Packers and Vikings met up during the 2010 campaign. But by then, there wasn't nearly as much energy, which Rodgers himself has even admitted. He was happy to get the wins, of course, but was obviously much more excited about that 2010 team going on to win the Super Bowl.
As far as Sunday's matchup between Rodgers and Love goes, emotions might be running a little higher if it were being contested at Lambeau. And if the two actually hated one another.
RELATED: David Bakhtiari just said quiet part out loud about Aaron Rodgers' revenge on Packers
As similar as their situations were, they were also vastly different. Favre had zero interest in being a mentor to Rodgers, and while the two have seemingly patched things up over the years, they had a rocky relationship for quite some time, obviously including when they first battled in 2009.
Rodgers, however, while clearly unhappy with the decision the Packers made to draft a quarterback in 2020, still took Love under his wing and was willing to help him, knowing full well he was mentoring the man who would one day take his job. As tumultuous as things got between Rodgers the Packers' front office at the end of his run in Green Bay, that was good to see.
Despite the respect Love has for Rodgers, though, there's obviously no question that beating him would make for one of the more special moments in his career, especially seeing as how Rodgers failed in his first attempt to beat Favre.