Aaron Rodgers is an all-time American football great.There is no denying that the New York Jets quarterback helped define not only his position but also his generation, with his incredible play and top-tier talent.With that said, it’s a good time to check out some of the most interesting facts about the future Hall of Famer.

10 Rodgers went to an obscure college before starring for California

Long before he became arguably the finest quarterback in the history of pro football, Rodgers struggled to find a school to play for. He did not even receive plenty of attention from Division I schools, which, in hindsight, seemed ludicrous.

Rodgers started his college career at Butte Community College, which is a public community college based in Orland, California. As it turned out, that small college would produce one of the best football players ever.

As a starting quarterback for the Roadrunners in 2002, Rodgers led Butte College to a fantastic record of 10-1 and even to a NorCal Conference championship.

Prior to that, there was hesitance on the part of Rodgers’ family over his prospect of joining Butte College, but they ultimately agreed to let the young quarterback follow that football path.

"Aaron's mother was like, 'Hey, my son has worked too hard in school to attend a junior college.' So I really needed to take my time explaining our football program and the situation," former Butte football head coach Craig Rigsbee said, via Bleacher Report.

Rodgers was promised a chance to see action and play by Rigsbee, and that’s despite the fact that the Roadrunners had a returning quarterback. That promise was all Rodgers needed to hear.

"Aaron's main concern was whether he could leave after one year for a Division I opportunity," Rigsbee told Bleacher Report in 2016.

"Of course, I'm thinking he needed to slow down there because we already had a starting QB who was returning. I explained the depth chart to Aaron, but all he wanted was for me to look him in the eye and promise I would give him a chance."

9 The future Hall of Famer almost quit football for baseball

The lack of interest from Division I schools had demoralized Rodgers, who thought about quitting football to give baseball a full go instead. He even flirted with the idea of studying law.

"He was pretty dejected about the lack of recruiting interest, so we got him to come out for baseball, and he had a lot of success that season," said Ron Souza who used to be the baseball coach at Pleasant Valley, Rodgers’ high school (h/t Bleacher Report).

"I think it was great to get his mind off football for a bit in order to help him get over that frustration. There's no doubt in my mind he could've had a future in baseball, but Aaron wasn't ready to walk away from football."

Rodgers did excel as a pitcher for his high school, Pleasant Valley, even touching 90 miles per hour on his throws. Eventually, Rodgers had to drop baseball to focus again on football with Butte College successfully recruiting him.

8 A former QB paved the way for Rodgers to join the Golden Bears

Rodgers’ dream of playing Division I football would finally come true after he was recruited to play for the California Golden Bears in 2002 by Jeff Tedford, who coached the team.

Tedford did not originally have Rodgers in mind when he watched tapes of Pleasant Valley, as he was initially interested in Rodgers’ teammate, tight end Garrett Cross. But apparently, Rodgers was too good to escape Tedford’s eyes.

"We were looking for a tight end, so I was watching Garrett's tape and I was really impressed by the quarterback. He jumped off the screen at me as a guy who had a lot of good things going for him," Tedford told Bleacher Report.

Rodgers had a solid tenure with the Golden Bears, playing two years in California threads and accumulating 5,469 passing yards with 43 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions while completing 63.8 percent of his throws.

The Golden Bears had not played in a bowl game in six years prior to Rodgers’ arrival but went to back-to-back bowl events with him under center.

7 Rodgers was not even the first QB taken in his draft class

Despite his impressive two-year stint with the Golden Bears and the hype around him leading into the 2005 NFL Draft, Rodgers waited for quite a long time before he heard his name get called in the draft. In fact, he was taken 24th overall.

The first player taken overall was Utah Utes quarterback Alex Smith, who went to the San Francisco 49ers.

Other notable names selected before Rodgers got picked by the Green Bay Packers were Adam Jones (Tennessee Titans), Antrel Rolle (Arizona Cardinals), and DeMarcus Ware (Dallas Cowboys).

6 Rodgers owns both of the two best single-season passer ratings in NFL history

One of the standout qualities of Rodgers is his accuracy with the ball. Even by elite standards, Rodgers often grades out as among the best in that area.

Perhaps nothing encapsulates that aspect of his greatness more than the fact that not only is he the owner of the highest single-season passer rating in NFL history but also the second-best ever. His 122.5 passer rating in the 2011 season remains No. 1 all-time.

That season, he passed for 4,643 passing yards and 45 touchdowns with only six interceptions, while finishing with a 14-1-0 record as the Packers' starter.

Nine years later, Rodgers would nearly break his own record when he authored yet another all-timer of a season.

In the 2020 campaign, Rodgers had a 121.5 passer rating after throwing for 4,299 yards and a career-high 48 touchdowns with just five interceptions.

His 70.7 percent pass completion rate is still the best of his career as well as his 9.1 percent touchdown rate.

5 Triple H once acknowledged Rodgers’ championship belt celly

Rodgers doesn’t just throw touchdowns. He also celebrates them in style.

Take for example one of his famous TD celebrations which mimics that of a pro wrestler putting on a championship belt around his waist.

That celebration even got the attention of Triple H, who once gave Rodgers some tips on how to improve the TD celly.

“If I was to critique it, it is a little bit low, and I think that he needs to do it a couple of times to get the gesture across,” the WWE legend said on ESPN.

4 Rodgers' first season as a starter screamed of future greatness

After three seasons in the shadows of Brett Favre, Rodgers finally got his shot as a full-time starter for the Packers in 2008.

Rodgers immediately repaid the trust the Packers showed in him by putting together a sensational 2008 campaign.

Although he went just 6-10-0 as a starter in that campaign, it was clear that he was the future of Green Bay.

The Packers were incredibly lucky to move on from one all-time greats in Favre to someone who turned out to be just as good – if not better – in the form of Rodgers, who passed for 4,038 yards and 28 touchdowns against 13 interceptions on 63.6 percent completion rate.

3 Rodgers has two six-touchdown passing games

Rodgers has had countless amazing performances in his illustrious career in the NFL, but in terms of passing touchdown production, two games stand out the most.

Those are the pair of six-touchdown passing games he had during his time with the Packers.

The first one occurred in Week 6 of the 2012 NFL season against JJ Watt and the third-ranked Houston Texans stop unit, in which he went 24 of 37 for 338 passing yards and six touchdowns with zero interceptions in a 42-24 road win.

"He put on a show tonight," Texans head coach Gary Kubiak told reporters after the game, clearly impressed with Rodgers’ performance.

The other six-touchdown passing game for Rodgers happened two years later in a Week 10 assignment against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field.

Coming off a bye, the well-rested Rodgers skewered Chicago’s defense for 315 passing yards and six touchdowns with zero picks thrown on 18-of-27 completions to lead Green Bay to an easy 55-14 victory.

What’s even more astounding is that Rodgers tossed all six touchdowns in the first half, completely obliterating the Bears before halftime.

"His statistics at halftime, I don't know if I've ever seen anything like that," then-Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said about Rodgers.

2 Rodgers is 3-1 in his career against the Jets

Rodgers rarely faced the Jets during his stint in Green Bay, as New York was from the other conference.

But in the four games he played against the Jets before, Rodgers managed to lead the Packers to a 3-1 head-to-head record. He was denied a perfect record against them when they took down Green Bay in Week 6 of the 2022 NFL season.

1 Rodgers has achieved an MVP feat that Tom Brady failed to accomplish

While Tom Brady won seven Super Bowl rings to Rodgers’ one, the Jets quarterback has more NFL MVPs (4) than the former New England Patriots and Buccaneers signal-caller, who retired with three.

Moreover, Rodgers is one of the few players in the history of the NFL to win season MVPs in back-to-back fashion, a club that doesn’t call Brady a member. Rodgers won the NFL MVP in 2011, 2012, 2020, and 2021.