In his six seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers has managed to keep a low profile, even in the wake of the biggest media circus in franchise history.

Thrust into the spotlight during the messy Brett Favre saga, Rodgers was quiet. When he did speak, he toed the company line, played it safe and remained politically correct.

Now, Rodgers finds himself in the center of a mini-firestorm as he and his teammates prepare for the biggest game of their careers.

During a post-practice interview Saturday in Green Bay, Rodgers was asked by a Milwaukee television reporter what he thought about the Packers' numerous players on injured reserve being unable to participate in Super Bowl XLV.

Rodgers, as smart as they come in the National Football League, thought carefully about what he was about to say but didn't mince words.

"Well, I'll say this," Rodgers said. "I was on IR back in 2006, and I chose to stick around and finish out the season with my guys and be here every game. Some of those guys didn't. And so, we love them, we care about them, we don't wish injury on anybody, but this is a group of guys that's really come together and has been great to work with. It's been great to work with the guys we brought in mid-season, some of them, and the young guys. Some of the guys who were injured, you know, they are still part of this team, but some of them didn't choose to stick around."

The remarks immediately set off a rash of criticism; some directed at Rodgers, some directed at the players and some directed at various members of media for blowing the story out of proportion.

Linebacker Nick Barnett, out since suffering a wrist injury in Week 4 against the Lions, quickly responded on Twitter.

"Well looks like people have something to say about where some people choose to do rehab," Barnett said in his Tweet. He continued by saying "it's easy to speak about others when you are not in their position."

Barnett quickly deleted those messages and posted a string of follow-ups, going so far as to suggest that he was deleting his account.

Tight end Jermichael Finley got into the fracas, too, quickly jumping to Barnett's defense. Unlike his teammate, Finley left his comments up and, later in the day, defended his decision to rehab in Arizona and pledge his allegiance to the Packers.

These are the same two players that turned to Twitter to gripe about being left out of the team's official picture -- a situation later remidied by the Packers when they rescheduled the photo shoot to later in the week.

Get beyond the finger-pointing though, and you're forced to face the facts: Rodgers wasn't just rambling. He wasn't just talking out of turn. He was making a statement -- a bold one at that.

As far as the public spotlight, Rodgers has very slowly and carefully emerged as the team's leader. It's been a gradual process, one that he's handled with dignity and class the entire way.

Inside the locker room, though, there has been no question that Rodgers has been "the man" from Day 1. His teammates rallied behind him during those early days in the post-Favre shadow; they defended him to the critics, naysayers and Favre-lovers. And they followed his lead on the field, which resulted in an NFC Championship.

He was dead on in his remarks. These guys want so badly to be part of the team now that it's headed to football's -- and perhaps professional sports' -- biggest stage, but they weren't around down the stretch when a playoff berth was far from a given.

Sure, the excuses offered by Barnett and Finely are justified and reasonable, but with so many backups filling holes, wouldn't the mere presence of the veterans, though injured, been of benefit to young players thrust into a critical situation?

While nobody knows for sure how good of a quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be, few doubt his leadership skills. Rodgers doesn't speak without thinking. He doesn't act on a whim. If he was the one making the comments, you can safely assume that he was aware of what he was saying and wasn't acting on his own -- he was reflecting the collective opinion of his teammates.

If egos were bruised, so be it. Sometimes, the truth hurts.