Aaron Rodgers is the 49ers’ biggest mistake

The San Francisco 49ers could have had Aaron Rodgers back in 2005. They messed up and the Green Bay Packers have made them pay for it ever since.

The San Francisco 49ers have a proud football history. They have won five Super Bowls and have been to a sixth in the last 40 years. San Francisco has sent player after player to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, thanks to a phenomenal two-decade run from the 1980s through the 1990s. However, this franchise could have been even better had it drafted Aaron Rodgers back in 2005.

Yes, the 49ers owned the No. 1 overall pick in that NFL Draft, as San Francisco quickly fell apart after letting former Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Garcia go. San Francisco thought Alex Smith out of Utah was going to be the heir apparent to quarterbacking greatness in the Bay Area like Garcia, Steve Young and Joe Montana were before that. While Smith would be okay, he wasn’t Rodgers.

Rodgers grew up a 49ers fan in Chico, California. He originally went the junior college route at Butte Community College before starring with the California Golden Bears under head coach Jeff Tedford. When Rodgers was dominating at Berkeley, Cal was largely seen as the second-best team in the Pac-10 behind only Pete Carroll’s USC Trojans.

Granted, that was a down period for the conference, but Rodgers kicked ass at Cal and had every bit the look of a quarterback worthy of being taken No. 1 overall by the 49ers. Then, he was not. Rodgers sat in that green room for hours until he was drafted No. 24 to be Brett Favre’s eventual successor with the Green Bay Packers.

It took a few years of Favre threatening to retire, retiring and un-retiring, all the while, throwing picks like he was the epitome of the Jameis Winston quarterbacking prototype, but Rodgers finally got his shot to lead an NFL team in 2008. Two years later, he led Green Bay to its fourth Super Bowl Championship and the Discount Double Check was born.

In the years to follow, Rodgers would become the baddest man on the planet, become the most accurate passer in NFL history and become the star in some amazing State Farm commercials. Rodgers brought some sweet California cool to Green Bay, Wisconsin, even if Clay Matthews III crashed a drone into his teammate’s truck’s windshield.

To be honest, he’s probably the coolest guy living in Wisconsin since Steven Hyde on That ’70s Show. Great quarterback, great show. So Rodgers is like second all time to Wisconsin coolness after The Fonz from Happy Days. Nobody is cooler than Arthur Fonzarelli. Eyy…But what about Smith?

Smith would get hurt in San Francisco, lose his starting job to Colin Kaepernick, play some insanely efficient ball with the Kansas City Chiefs, lose his job to Patrick Mahomes, go to the Washington Redskins and break his leg. He made some Pro Bowls playing for Jim Harbaugh and mostly Andy Reid before suffering a similar fate on Joe Theismann’s anniversary in front of Theismann himself.

Though the Packers front office has largely let Rodgers down since winning Super Bowl XLV over the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2010 NFL season, Rodgers will have a beautiful bronze bust in Canton, while Smith can only ever hope to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta after his days with the Utes. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist after all!

So in the last 14 years since San Francisco didn’t draft Rodgers No. 1 overall, the 49ers have cycled through being a tire fire, to being a Super Bowl contender in the NFC. They have this generation’s version of Bill Walsh at head coach in Kyle Shanahan. Who knew that John Lynch was actually going to be a good general manager? And Jimmy Garoppolo is just so damn handsome.

The 49ers may end up beating the Packers on Sunday Night Football this week at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, but Rodgers living well in Titletown is his best revenge. Both NFC contenders lead their respective divisions with a fierce division rival on their tails. Green Bay has to keep the Minnesota Vikings in check, while San Francisco must hold off Russell Wilson’s Seattle Seahawks.

Overall, neither of these two organizations make a ton of mistakes, all things considered. They aren’t the Cleveland Browns or the New York Jets for a reason. Green Bay has three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks and the Super Bowl trophy is named after the Packers’ greatest coach.

San Francisco revolutionized the passing game with a head coach, a quarterback and a wide receiver that belong on their respective Mount Rushmores in football. The 49ers also had the greatest safety of all time in a guy who loved ball so much, he lopped off part of his finger so that he could play. Garoppolo may love football too, but he’s more eye candy than Super Bowl winner.

So Rodgers will return to NorCal in a sort of homecoming and do what he does that makes him the best quarterbacking talent of his generation. He’ll scramble out of the pocket, ab-lib better than anyone from Who’s Line is it Anyway? and carve up Robert Saleh’s defense like a Thanksgiving turkey in primetime. The amount of WHOOPS from Chris Berman’s mouth will be record-setting.

The 49ers have to accept that they made a GOB Bluth huge mistake on par with Jerry Glanville’s Atlanta Falcons giving up on a rookie quarterback from Mississippi after one year in taking Smith over Rodgers back in 2005. Rodgers comes before Smith in everything, even the dictionary, so why did they think a Mountain West quarterback was going to be better than a star in the Pac-10?

Next: NFL Power Rankings: 30 Best QB of All-Time

No, you didn’t mess up, A-A-ron. You done messed up, San Fran! Rodgers is a bad, bad man and he’s going to make you pay dearly on Sunday Night Football. Jimmy G is a good quarterback, who is ridiculously good-looking. Rodgers is a great quarterback, who will look ridiculously good shaking Garoppolo’s hand after he beats the snot out of the 49ers in their blue-jean palace.