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Just act like nothing happened, Aaron.

A tornado whipped through your town this past week, and it had nothing to do with you.

Grandma rang the cow bell in New Jersey. That’s where the media cattle will herd next. Time for football, the way it was back in May and June. Not the way it’s been, when one of your teammates glanced at the horde of reporters around you Tuesday and said out loud, “That’s absolutely ridiculous.”

The talking head that sprinted – yes, sprinted – to your locker is probably already bunked up at some hotel near Hofstra University. Any fear of claustrophobia will fade. The focus is resurfacing back to football. OK. So that disturbing magic-markered “%$#@ Me Ted” graffiti in the training camp Porta John will be tough to erase (Memo to vandal: Get a hobby.) Maybe the team can use some of that $25 million payout money on a new stall. Just a thought.

Fact is, when practice resumes Saturday, the coaches, the locker room and most of all, Aaron Rodgers, will return to the state of homeostasis they were on July 4 – one day before the most infective itch of all-time became public. Thursday’s wrap-up press conference with Ted Thompson, Mark Murphy and Mike McCarthy brought closure to the controversial mess that rocked the franchise for the past month.

The decision to push Favre away could blow up in the organization’s face, leave irreparable damage to decades of fans, and send a Super Bowl-ready team to the cellar. But it’s never been about Aaron Rodgers. If one person has been classy and forthright through this sad demise, it’s the player that could easily have thrown daily temper tantrums.

Always answering questions with humble realism, Rodgers didn’t attack Favre for trying to undercut everything he did since March – from the summer barbeques at his house to his infectious free-wheelin’ attitude at practice. Rodgers could’ve tried to scare Favre away with subtle jabs and no one would have blamed him.

Instead he welcomed a quarterback competition, even though this scenario didn’t dare infiltrate his darkest thoughts in June.

When a legion of fans at the left corner of the near end zone at Clarke Hinkle Field booed Rodgers and boomed with “Bring Back Brett” chants, Rodgers joked afterward that rookie wide receiver Brett Swain “was getting a lot of attention today.”

The same Swain, Rodgers trained with during the offseason in California, along with James Jones. The same Swain, who says Rodgers reached out to him and “snapped me out of overwhelmed mode.”

Rodgers didn’t sign up for this. Every year, hard work behind the scenes has only warranted increased drama and disappointment. The 4 1/2 hour wait in the green room that cost him millions of dollars, the freak injuries that have pessimists labeling him injury-prone, Favre’s annual delayed comeback announcements and one Sports Illustrated soundbyte taken out of context. Now this? Now he finally gets his moment to shine – in a contract year, mind you – and yet another mind-numbing twist is thrown into his running autobiography.

Mr. Bill had it easy. Soon, “aaronrodgered” will become a verb for getting the shaft.

It’s probably not a coincidence that Rodgers had his worst practice on Tuesday, while his best practice came on Wednesday when the now-famed maroon Escalade was getting ready to head back to the airport.

With the cloud over him gone, Rodgers was himself. He found a rhythm, unleashed two deep bombs to James Jones, scrambled for a 30-yarder and willingly fired thread-the-needle passes underneath the secondary. And his likeable carefree demeanor was back. During a multi-lateral, last-second play run by Brian Brohm’s No. 2 unit, Rodgers hopped onto the field from the sideline to join the lateral frenzy.

It sure was a special sight, even for the most staunch Favre supporters and most malicious Thompson haters. Rodgers having fun. No voice recorders stuffed into his face. No 30-some reporters huddled around his locker 20 minutes before he’s even there. No chants for Favre after every incompletion. No mental leash tugging at his collar – something he’d certainly feel if there was an open quarterback competition.

The week-long carnival never had anything to do with Rodgers. The ugly relationship was between Brett Favre and Ted Thompson. Aaron Rodgers just happened to be the middle man, like an innocent bystander getting dragged into a street fight.

Now comes the really, really unfair part, though. Thompson’s decision to “move forward” and shut out Favre will instantly put the weight of the franchise on Rodgers’ shoulders. Anything short of another division title will knee-jerk an instant “Told you so!” from Favre loyalists.

Yep, Rodgers is the middle man again. But at least this time, he’ll have some control.

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