Aaron Rodgers hoisted the Lombardi Trophy nearly nine years ago. Since that day -- Feb. 6, 2011 -- the Green Packers haven't sniffed the Super Bowl, including missing the playoffs in back-to-back years.
For whatever reason, NFL cognoscenti decided long ago that a quarterback must obtain two Super Bowl rings to cement his standing among his peers. Perhaps the rationale is one victory could be a fluke; perhaps it's arbitrary; perhaps somewhere along the way someone looked around, saw many of the great ones owned dos rings, and set the standard.
Regardless, Rodgers continues to search for that second Super Bowl title to get the proverbial monkey off his back.
"It's on my mind every day," Rodgers said, via ESPN. "That's why we play the game. That's why you put in the time in the offseason, that's why you do the little things. It's to put yourself in this position, where we're two games away from being able to compete for that. I'm 36, I know what this is all about. This is an important opportunity for us. I feel like I've got a lot of really good years left, but you never know. A lot of things happen year to year. We've had some great teams that have been an injury away or a play away from being special, so I want to make the most of this opportunity."
Judging quarterbacks on wins or Super Bowl titles belies the repeated cliché that football is the ultimate team game. Rodgers will go down as one of the greatest signal-callers of all time regardless of how his team finishes.
Still, much like Peyton Manning, Rodgers won't silence the doubters until he slips on that second Super Bowl ring.
As we peek into the 20s, Rodgers knows time is running short.
"When I was 31, I thought I was going to play into my 40s and that was still a decade away," Rodgers said. "Now, I'm 36, so now we're a half a decade away."
The Packers own a golden opportunity with Sunday's home playoff game against an injury-riddled Seattle Seahawks team to advance to the NFC Championship game.