What happens when a near mythical figure in America’s favorite sport decides to retire?

As could be witnessed in the wake of the Favre retirement, fans weep, small towns wonder about their own finality, and John Madden locks himself into his closet for several days due to a deep depression.

Ok, maybe the last thing didn’t happen. But upon Brett Favre’s retirement (and subsequent denial of a return), talking heads agreed that the NFC North, the division the Green Bay Packers are a part of, was the ripe for the taking.

Had much changed in Green Bay?

No, not in quantity at least.

But it remains to be seen whether Aaron Rodgers can escape the shadow cast by one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever touch a pigskin. Or even if he can go an entire season without wetting himself.

So goes the speculation when an unproven, or even a proven for that matter, steps from within the shadow of a grid iron hero.

With Rodgers’ quest ahead, let’s take a look at others that had to overcome the scrutiny of replacing the all time greats of the game.

12. Tom Scott tries to replace Anthony Munoz

Anthony Munoz played in 11 consecutive Pro Bowls (1981-1991) and was voted offensive lineman of the year in three separate years. So, how do you replace the greatest offensive lineman to ever play in the NFL? Apparently the answer for the Bengals was a Rookie, sixth round pick form East Carolina. Tom Scott only lasted one year in the NFL, one of the worst in Bengals history at 3-13. He did not hold the Left Tackle spot the entire season, as journeyman Joe Walter had to pick up some of the slack as the offensive line was reconfigured throughout the 1993 season.

The failure of that season was not all on the shoulders of the men that tried in vain to replace Anthony Munoz. Boomer Esiason was also traded that year to help David Shula rebuild a team that would be sub .500 until his termination in 1996.

11. John Goodman tries to replace Mean Joe Greene

How important was Mean Joe to the Pittsburgh Steel Curtain defense? The year he retired they changed from a 4-3 to a 3-4. This put John Goodman at Left Defensive End to carry much of the weight Greene had at Left Defensive Tackle. The results were less then stellar.

Greene, from 1969-1981, accumulated 78.5 sacks. That is roughly 6 sacks a year over his 13 year career. In contrast, Goodman only produced 7 sacks in 5 years with the Steelers. Goodman was drafted in 1981 in preparation for Mean Joe’s retirement, but many Steeler fans felt they they should have made other plans.

10. Jay Fiedler tries to replace Dan Marino

What better way to judge the future of Aaron Rodgers than to look at the situation the Dolphins faced when the man whose records Brett Favre broke retired?

Dan Marino played 16 years in the national football league, amassing 61,361 career passing yards, 420 passing touchdowns, on a 59.4% completion percentage. He is held as perhaps the best pure passer in league history.

When he retired at the end of the 1999 season he was replaced by Jay Fiedler, a move by then Miami coach Dave Wannstedt that shocked some who expected Damon Huard, Marino’s top choice as his replacement, to replace him. The result was a 2000 season that only saw 2,402 yards passing and 14 touchdowns to go with 14 interceptions. Fiedler would rebound with better campaigns, but the Dolphins have been reeling ever since Marino retired, and have had a constant revolving door at quarterback, the sports most important position.

9. Greg Hill tries to replace Barry Sanders

The Detroit Lions decided to replace one of the games most prolific runners, with a mediocre journeyman in Greg Hill, and the outcome was about what you would expect out of the Lions.

Sanders ran for 15,269 yards, 99 rushing touchdowns,and 99.8 yards per game, during his career. During his one year with the Lions, Hill ran 542 yards and 2 touchdowns. After Hill, James Stewart would bring a 1,000 yard rusher back to Detroit, but the franchise has yet to find an offensive identity since Sanders left.

If only they could have secured Sanders some help on either side of the ball, it is likely the team would have been able to boast the leading rusher in NFL history for quite a few more years as many felt that Sanders retired at the top of his game.

8. Larry Cole replaces Bob Lilly

Bob Lily was the first great Cowboys player, and perhaps the best defensive linemen in NFL history. Lily went to 10 consecutive Pro Bowls, and anchored the Cowboy D-Line for the entire 60s and half of the 70s.

When it was time for him to hang up his spikes, Larry “Bubba” Cole, a long time Cowboy lineman, was moved to right defensive tackle to fill that hole. He held down that position for the 1975 and 1976 teams. Cole was a veteran of five super bowls, twenty six playoff games (a record at the time) and stayed with the team until 1980 when he retired after thirteen years under the legendary, Hall of Fame coaching of Tom Landry.

7. Waymond Bryant tries to replace Dick Butkus

Dick Butkus is regarded by many as the best inside linebacker to ever play in the NFL. Waymond Bryant played in the NFL for four seasons. I think it is safe to say the Chicago Bears didn’t really get the replacement they thought they were when they drafted Bryant in 1974.

During his career Butkus put up staggering defensive numbers. He recorded 1,020 tackles, 22 interceptions, and 27 fumble recoveries before he retired in 1973. Bryant’s inability to fill Butkus’s shoes was not entirely his fault… he suffered from a career ending shoulder injury in the 1977 season. Luckily the Bears would draft another amazing linebacker in the 2nd round of the 1981 draft by the name of Michael Singletary while Butkus kept himself busy post football with an acting career.

6. Neal Anderson replaces Walter Payton

Walter Payton was one of the most explosive players in NFL history. He amassed 16726 rushing yards in 12 seasons with the Bears, a number that would not be surpassed until Emmit Smith did so in 2002. He helped lead the 1985 Bears to a Super Bowl, and was ready to hang up the cleats at the end of the 1987 season. He was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

It is almost impossible to fill the shoes of an all time great, so all that can be really expected of a replacement is that they do not simply drop the ball, both literally and figuratively. Neal Anderson was able to step in for Payton and rush for three consecutive 1000 plus yard seasons with double digit touchdowns in each of those seasons. Anderson also split carries in the 1987 season with Peyton to create a 1000 yard backfield for the Bears. There is little else you can ask from a running back in the era of football, when the rules did not favor a passing game, then to rush for 1000 or more yards a season.

5. Marty Domres tries to replace Johnny Unitas

Johnny Unitas was the original superstar quarterback, on the original powerhouse football team, the Indianapolis Colts. In his career, that spanned 19 years, he threw 40,239 passing yards, a 54.6 completion percentage, and 303 total touchdowns. In many ways he is the Babe Ruth of professional football, a figure in the sports history whose legend surpasses records.

So how was one of the most beloved men in pigskin history replaced? With Marty Domres one of the most forgettable players in pigskin history. When Unitas left the Colts, Domres took over and posted 1392 yds with a 76.6% QB rating, and that was one of his better years. Domres stayed in the league for quite a while, but was nothing more than a journeyman at best. His days with Baltimore ended in 1974 when he posted a 33.2% QB rating.

4. Corey Miller tries to replace Lawrence Taylor

There has never been a greater defensive player in NFL history than Lawrence Taylor. LT could easily be argued as the 2-4 best player in NFL history, and his play at outside linebacker was nothing short of genius. Taylor recorded 132.5 sacks, 9 interceptions, and 2 touchdowns during his hall of fame career.

When he retired, following the 1993 season, the Giants placed Corey Miller on Taylors spot. In 9 years of NFL play, Miller would only record 14 sacks and 215 tackles. The Giants, who had been the prototypical 3-4 team, were left without a dominating outside presence at linebacker for years following Taylor’s retirement.

3. Steve Young replaces Joe Montana

How do you escape the shadow of the most prolific passer in NFL history? Steve Young did it by becoming one of the greatest at the position in his own right.

Montana passed for 40,551yards, 63.2 completion percentage, 293 total touchdowns, and a ridiculously low 2.6 interception percentage. He led what many consider the best team ever assembled in the 1984 49ers to a Super Bowl. Montana left the game in ‘94.

Steve Young entered the league in 1985 with the Buccaneers and posted two losing seasons before being labeled a bust and being traded to San Francisco. There he lived in Montana’s shadow until the hall of famer sustained an elbow injury in the 1991 season. He went on to pass for 33,124 yards, a 65.3 completion percentage, 275 total touchdown, and a 2.6 interception rate. His performance was so impressive during the 1992 season that the 49ers actually traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he would play for his final two seasons. I would say thats a successful emergence.

2. Jerry Porter tries to replace Jerry Rice

Before the changes in pass defense rules was established in 1994 the wide receivers job was much more complicated than that of the present NFL. This is the reason you do not hear praise for a plethora of pass catchers before the current era. The NFL was long a ground game, and when passing praise was to be heaped it would likely be done on the quarterback.

Even in a league that did not favor the pass, Jerry Rice made defenses seem obsolete. The argument could be made that he made hall of famers out of both Joe Montana and Steve Young. He compiled 22,895 yards, had a 14.8 yards per catch average, and scored 207 touchdowns in his career.

Rice left the 49ers after the 2000 season. He created a connection with Rich Gannon that would account for 1,211 yards and 7 TDs, leading the Raiders to the 2002 Super Bowl. When Rice decided to leave the game in 2004, after an amazing 19 year career for a wide receiver, Jerry Porter ascended as the top pass catching threat for the Raiders. Porter in many ways was a disappointment for Oakland. In his seven years in the league he has only put up 3,939 yards and 30 tds. This caused the Raiders to part ways with Porter after the 2007 season.

1. Leroy Kelley replaces Jim Brown

It is easy to say that Jim Brown was the closest thing to a Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods that the NFL ever had. He was a freakishly large and fast running back, standing 6′2″ weighing 232,and playing like a literal juggernaut. He remained in the league for only nine years, leaving at the peak of his game. In those nine years he gained 12, 312 yds, 126 touchdowns , 5.2 yard per carry average, and an amazing 104.3 yards per game.

If he had played the ten, 16 game seasons Barry Sanders played he would have left the rushing mark at 16,668, if he had played the twelve years of Walter Payton it is unlikely his records would ever be broken. He left the game with more total touchdowns than both Payton and Sanders, though Payton has 4 more rushing touchdowns than Brown.

Leroy Kelley took over for Brown after he hung it up in 1965, and his induction to the hall of fame in 1994 says enough about his contribution to the Browns after they lost the greatest player in football history. He played for 10 season with the Browns, starting 8 of those. In that time he rushed for 7,274 yards, scored 87 total touchdowns, and averaged 4.2 yards a carry. He was not Jim Brown, but he was one of the best running backs of his day, unfortunately for him he took over for the best back any of us will likely ever see.

Can Aaron Rodgers Escape the Shadow?

And so our journey takes us to speculation about what Aaron Rodgers will do.

Will he fair like Young after being handed the keys by Montana, or will the Packers face the same turmoil the Dolphins have since Marino’s retirement?

It is impossible to fully measure what will come of any talent stepping out of the shadow cast by their predecessor, the only thing that history can tell us is that it is almost impossible to meet the expectations that the precarious position can create.

Tags: Features, Football, NFL
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