After spending the majority of his first three NFL seasons waiting in the wings behind Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love finally became the Packers' starting quarterback in 2023.
Love detailed in The Player's Tribune that much of his life he never even dreamed he'd make it to the NFL. He did not become a starter in high school until midway through his junior year, and the only DI scholarship offer he got was to Utah State. It wasn't until he became a starter during his sophomore season of college that he realized he might have a future in the NFL.
When the Packers called Love to tell him that they were trading up in the 2020 draft to take him in the first round, Love was shocked. He quickly went from simply making the NFL to being tabbed the heir-replacement for a future Hall of Famer.
Love soaked up the opportunity to learn under Rodgers for those three years, but when he took over as the starter, the pressure wasn't lost on him. He wasn't just taking over for Rodgers, he was hand-selected in the first round during Rodgers's prime to eventually replace him.
Even Love recalled his mom telling him before his that season, “Big shoes to fill. You going to be alright? You gotta play good, or they’ll get another quarterback.”
In his first two seasons as the starter, Love has taken the Packers to the postseason in back-to-back years. He still has shown plenty of room for improvement, especially after dealing with injuries last season, but has kept Green Bay in contention as the next quarterback in line after Rodgers and Brett Favre.
There will always be "big shoes to fill" playing for a city nicknamed "Titletown” and following after two Hall of Fame quarterbacks, but Love is not worried about copying his predecessors as he heads into his third season as the starter.
"I’m not Aaron Rodgers," Love wrote. "I’m not a guy with a five-star pedigree. I’m my own man with my own story, and I want to make my own mark on this franchise. I want to write my own chapter here, following in the footsteps of the legends who wore this G before me."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Even Jordan Love’s Mom Teased Him About Filling Aaron Rodgers’s Shoes on Packers.