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When John Elway retired in 1999 after leading Denver to consecutive Super Bowl titles, a young Griese took over the Broncos’ offense and learned firsthand how difficult it can be to follow a legend.
“I think he’s handled it the right way,” said Griese, now in his 11th season and three weeks into his second stint as the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his fourth NFL team.
“I think the less you say the better. I think you let your play speak for yourself, and he’s played really well.”
Rodgers’ Packers (2-1) face Griese’s Bucs (2-1) today at Raymond James Stadium in what two months ago had the potential to be one of the most anticipated matchups of the year because of Tampa Bay’s interest in acquiring Favre when he decided to come out of retirement.
But Green Bay was unwilling to trade the three-time MVP to another NFC team and wound up dealing him to the New York Jets.
Bucs coach Jon Gruden is unapologetic about his pursuit of Favre, a move that didn’t sit well with then-starter Jeff Garcia, who lost his job to Griese after a poor performance in Tampa Bay’s opener.
“We haven’t done anything other than try to assemble the best football team we can,” Gruden said.
“We’ll play the best players at each position, and we’re going to try to get the best players at each position on our team. That’s your responsibility. Not everybody’s going to agree with you, but the ultimate goal here is to win. And to do that, you have to have your best players on the field.”
Both teams clearly have moved on.
The Packers are off to a solid start, with Rodgers mostly sticking to coach Mike McCarthy’s game plans and making big plays when opportunities arise, a formula for success dramatically different than that of Favre, a master at improvising.
Above all, the 24-year-old has done a good job of protecting the ball in victories over Minnesota and Detroit, as well as last week’s 27-16 loss to Dallas. Through three starts, he’s completed 64 of 99 passes for 796 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
“With the kind of preparation I put in during the week, I expect to play well on Sundays and Mondays, so I wasn’t surprised by the way I’ve played so far,” Rodgers said.
“I am disappointed with the loss last week, obviously. But for me, my biggest hurdle every week is just preparing the same way, watching a lot of film, practicing very hard and studying the game plan.”
It all sounds familiar to Griese, 2-0 since replacing Garcia, including last week’s 27-24 overtime win at Chicago in which he threw a franchise-record 67 times and finished with a career-best 407 yards passing.
Griese was 24, in his second year in the league, when he stepped in for Elway and went 4-9 as a starter in 1999.
He led the NFL in passer rating and made the Pro Bowl the following season, and by the time he and the Broncos parted ways in 2003, he was second on the club’s all-time list in attempts, completions and completion percentage.
“I think you go into it humble and say, listen I’m not going to try to be Brett Favre. I didn’t try to be John Elway,” Griese said. “You can’t do that, you’ve got to be yourself and play within yourself. He’s got plenty of talent to make it in this league, and I think he will.”
The Bucs quarterback doesn’t buy the notion that following great players, such as Elway and Favre, are impossible situations.
“I don’t think that at all. It’s still football. You’ve still got 11 guys on the field. There’s a lot of pressure whether you follow Brett Favre or not,” Griese said.
“Let’s be honest. In this league, there’s pressure in Cincinnati, there’s pressure in Pittsburgh. It doesn’t matter where you are. If you can’t handle that pressure, and you don’t have thick skin, you’re not going to make it. Now, it’s a little bit worse in (Rodgers’) case, but I think he’s done well.”
Rodgers’ mobility seemed to catch the Vikings and Lions by surprise in the first two games. However, the fourth-year pro was sacked five times by the Cowboys, who also faced him last season.
Tampa Bay feels one of the keys to being successful today will be getting him on the ground when they have an opportunity.
“If not,” Bucs defensive tackle Chris Hovan said, “he finds a second or third option and, all of a sudden, it’s a first down in our territory.”
Rodgers is confident the Packers, who will be without injured cornerback Al Harris (spleen) on defense, will rebound with a strong performance.
“You need to respond. It’s going to be a good test for our team,” Rodgers said. “We’re a young team, we faced a little bit of adversity against Dallas, we got beat, we’re 2-1, (and now) we’re playing a big game against a good team that’s won two in a row.”
Harris’ replacement is Tramon Williams, a second-year player who was a walk-on at Louisiana Tech and undrafted coming out of college. He bounced around from tryout to tryout and has gone from practice-squad afterthought to key contributor during his time in Green Bay.
“He really has come out of nowhere in a sense, compared to the normal path,” McCarthy said.
