But you know, one of the things I love the most about Love is that even though he values protecting the ball, he doesn't seem to be as pathologically obsessed with "not throwing picks" as Rodgers was. I've said this 100 times, you could practically see the man working out his revised QB rating after every single pass, and sometimes I wondered if he was fixated on what each pass would do to his QB rating while he was still deciding whether or where to throw it.
Favre's style was loose, spontaneous, and often careless, and that was a big part of why he was so damned much fun to watch. But, also a big part of why a lot of Packer fans threw bricks through their TV screens in January.
Rodgers spent 3 years standing on the sideline next to McCarthy while (every time Brett threw a high risk pass, and god knows he threw a lot of them) McCarthy said, "see what he did there? don't do that." He probably came away with a long list of things Favre did that he shouldn't do. And when it was his turn, there were many, many times Rodgers seemed to prioritize mistake-free ball over keeping the damned drive alive and giving his team the best possible chance to win the game.
Love spent 3 years standing on the sideline next to LaFleur while Lafleur constantly told him, "see that? that was good, do that. But see that one? don't do that."
I'm thinking Love came away understanding that sometimes, a great quarterback needs to take a risk in order to make a play, which is something Rodgers friggin' hated to do. Aaron would rather eat the ball or throw it away than risk a pick, but sometimes a high-risk pass is the best (and even only) play a truly great QB can make.
I'm hoping Love will be the best of both worlds - a man who prioritizes protecting the ball and not making plays that are actually stupid-risky, but at the same time smart enough to understand that the smartest play in any given game situation might be to accept the risk and try to squeeze one in there in order to keep the drive alive - give your receiver a chance to make a play, at least. (Just maybe not quite like that season-ender against the Niners; hopefully he learned a big lesson from that).