It wasn't until a chance encounter with then-Cal head coach Jeff Tedford that Rodgers was discovered and offered a Division I scholarship while in his first year playing football at Butte Community College in Oroville, Calif.
And, as they say, the rest is history.
Rodgers is now known as one of the elite players in the NFL, having led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl title at the end of 2010 season.
On Sunday, Rodgers and his Packers face-off against another great quarterback from Northern California - Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brady was a standout athlete while attending Serra High School in San Mateo (Calif.) before landing a scholarship to Michigan.
In his two seasons (2000-2001) as the starting varsity quarterback at Pleasant Valley, Rodgers guided the Vikings to a 17-7 overall record, which included two straight appearances in the CIF Northern Section playoffs — his team lost in the first round both times.
Rodgers, who was 5-foot-10, 165-pounds while playing in high school, became the first Northern Section quarterback to pass for over 2,000 yards in consecutive seasons. He passed for 4,419 yards during his two-year varsity career, including a school-record 2,318 yards in his senior season.
"Rodgers was certainly seen as one of the top quarterbacks the Northern Section had ever produced," former NorthstatePrepUpdate.com publisher and current MaxPreps writer Kevin Askeland said. "But players from the Northern Section don't receive much notice from Division I schools, so it wasn't a surprise that he ended up at Butte College rather than a Division I program out of high school."
