First off, let me say that I am very impressed with the way the Super Bowl ended up last night. It was entertaining, it was well played by both teams, and though my least favorite team in the league ended up winning, it was a pretty wonderful game to end the 2010 season. That being said, last night made it an even worse time to be a Vikings fan in this league, mainly because its very likely that there will not be football next year. Due to this fact, not only will the Packers be world champs for the remainder of the off season, but they will most likely be world champs until a winner is crowned in the beginning of 2013. That is a LONG time to endure a Green and Gold reign over the NFL.

To top it all off, its hard to not want to root for guys like Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and Greg Jennings. They are SO good at what they do and play in a way that inspires others, that you just want to get up out of your chair and root for them. Unlike Ben Roethlisberger, and even the ghost of Brett Favre that was haning around this whole game, the fledgeling legacies of the current Packers have not been tainted by off the field issues. Because this is the case, you are going to have many more fans willing to latch on to the success of this team of “everymen.”

Personally, I think this is only the beginning for Aaron Rodgers, and that scares me beyond belief. The saying, over the last decade, has been that “defense wins championships,” but I don’t think that is necessarily the case. As we saw last night, having a ridiculous QB will trump a team built around an epic defense. Rodgers picked the Steelers apart, something that rarely happened this year, and he did it with NO FUCKING RUNNING GAME. There was no Adrian Peterson or Chris Johnson back there distracting people from the receivers. It was all on Rodgers’ shoulders, and he delivered like no one has delivered since Steve Young’s performance close to 20 years ago.

As expected, hobby wise, Rodgers’ cards have hit the stratosphere, and I don’t expect that to ever come down. Since being named MVP, his already high prices have gotten higher, because unlike Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, Rodgers’ autograph is scarce. Even the notoriously scare Tom Brady has had more autographs in recent products than Rodgers, and I assume that this should change coming up. I also assume that as the prices climb higher, the manufacturers will try harder to get him into the different releases, but in the end it all depends on the player and the player’s agent.

Another guy that has greatly benefitted from this run is obviously Clay “the Predator” Matthews, as his rookie autographs have been going bananas lately. As you can see, his Exquisite autos are so high, that many of the fans have been priced out of purchase. Remember, last year, many of his autographs could be had for little to nothing. Now, he is selling higher than the skilled offensive players like Stafford, Harvin and Crabtree.

Check out some of the recent prices these autos autos have gotten. Its ridiuclous:

Aaron Rodgers Leaf Rookies and Stars Auto /150

Aaron Rodgers SP Authentic 3 Color Patch Auto

Aaron Rodgers Gold XFractor Auto BGS 9.5

Aaron Rodgers Playoff Contenders Auto

Clay Matthews Exquisite RC Auto /99

Clay Matthews/BJ Raji Dual Auto /10

Clay Matthews Contenders Auto

What I hope DOES NOT happen, is that bit-players like Jordy Nelson, James Starks and company do not get an influx of autographs in products, because a super bowl win doesn’t transfer for anyone other than the Quarterbacks usually. In some cases, superstar running backs get a nice value bump that doesn’t go away, but any bump given to WR and other skill players dissapates as soon as they go back to their normal production. Jordy Nelson will most likely never be more than a number 3, which is why we don’t need five million signatures of him clogging the box hit slots for the wax we open.

In the coming months, we are going to get a clear idea on the possible work stoppage and an entirely new draft class to chase, so be careful when going on that buying binge. Although people like Aaron Rodgers may seem like a tempting buy, right now is not the time. In fact, investment collectors may have missed that “time” altogether.