PITTSBURGH — Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers doesn’t view Sunday night’s meeting against the Green Bay Packers, the team that drafted him No. 24 in 2005 and with whom he spent the first 18 years of his career, as a “revenge game,” he said Wednesday.
“I don’t have any animosity toward the organization,” he said. “Obviously, I wish that things had been better in our last year there, but I have a great relationship with a lot of people still in that organization, and this is not a revenge game for me. I’m just excited to see some of those guys and be on ‘Sunday Night Football’ again.”
Rodgers, of course, took over for Brett Favre as the team’s full-time starter in 2008 and spent 15 seasons in that role before orchestrating a trade to the New York Jets in April 2023. Rogers’ exit installed 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love as the Packers’ new starting quarterback.
Rodgers, though, said that while there are similarities between his and Love’s situation and the one that unfolded with Favre, this meeting of new and old isn’t as charged — for the quarterbacks or the fan bases — as the one that happened in 2009. That season, Favre, as a member of the Minnesota Vikings, played against the Packers at the Metrodome in Week 4 on “Monday Night Football.”
“Brett got traded, and then he went to one of the hated rivals,” Rodgers said, explaining the difference. “I was in New Jersey for a couple years.”
After beating the Jets, with whom he spent two dismal and injury-marred seasons, in Week 1, Rodgers said it was “nice” to beat one of his former teams, but it didn’t “come close to feeling how it’s going to feel playing Green Bay because that’s 18 years of my career.”
On Wednesday, Rodgers clarified that those feelings would differ if Sunday night’s game weren’t at Acrisure Stadium.
“It would feel different if I was going back to Green Bay,” said Rodgers, who won a Super Bowl with the Packers after the 2010 season. “I have a lot of love for the organization, but if we were playing in Lambeau, that would be a little different feeling for sure.”
Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that he doesn’t expect Rodgers to approach this game any differently from other matchups this season.
Rodgers played his last game at Lambeau on Jan. 8, 2022, throwing a touchdown and an interception in a 20-16 loss to the Detroit Lions. Nearly four months later, he was a Jet. The trade was precipitated by the team’s selection of Love with its first-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Rodgers won back-to-back MVP awards after the team added Love, but by 2022, the veteran knew his time with the organization was coming to an end. Though his departure and the process of it created a tenuous relationship with the Packers at the time, Rodgers said his feelings toward the organization have evolved in the years since leaving Green Bay.
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder, maybe,” he said with a smile. “Have a lot of great memories from my time there. … I grew up there. I spent 18 years there from 21 to 39, so I’m thankful for my time there.
“Obviously, would’ve loved to ride off in the sunset after a Super Bowl win, but that’s not the way the league goes sometimes, and I knew the writing was on the wall when Jordan was picked, and as a matter of time, I happened to win MVP the first two years he was with us. But I knew at some point there would be a change, and if I wanted to play, it’d probably have to be elsewhere. So I understand the situation. We live and we learn.”
Rodgers said he still corresponds with Love, and he even exchanged a couple of texts with him earlier this season because the Steelers and Packers had some common opponents.
“He’s a great kid, man,” Rodgers said. “He really is. I enjoyed my time with him. I’m not surprised by how he’s playing. He’s playing great. His progression was like mine, kind of where you just kind of, first year, you’re getting your feet wet. Second year, you feel a little bit more confident. By the time the third year comes around, you’re ready to play.”
In Green Bay, Love told reporters Wednesday that he texted with Rodgers as recently as a couple of weeks ago.
“A-Rod texted me and was talking about some of the plays we’d run and some of my footwork, things like that, complimenting me, so obviously it’s great to be able to hear from him. I’ve got so much respect for him, and anytime he gives me pointers, stuff like that, obviously you want to get feedback from a legend like that,” he said.
Rodgers also pointed out that both of them earned the chance to take the reins of the franchise when an injury to the starting quarterback opened a window of opportunity. Rodgers sat behind Favre for the better part of three seasons, but Rodgers shined when the beloved veteran got hurt against the Dallas Cowboys in 2007. Though the Packers lost that game, Rodgers completed 18 of 26 attempts for 201 yards and a touchdown. More than a decade later, Rodgers hurt a thumb in a 2022 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Love came in after the third-quarter injury and completed 6 of 9 attempts for 113 yards and a touchdown.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday that Rodgers “was awesome” to Love when they were both in Green Bay.
“He did a great job just being supportive with him, trying to give him nuggets all the time, and I think Jordan leaned into that, and just the mastery that he has of our offense, of the protection schemes that we do, I thought it was great for both people,” he said.
Since signing a one-year contract with the Steelers in May following a prolonged courtship in free agency, Rodgers has endeared himself to the organization and his new teammates. He invited the offensive linemen and other quarterbacks to join him in a suite at PNC Arena to watch the Penguins beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Tuesday night. He was also joined by former Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel. After practice Wednesday, Rodgers expressed an appreciation for the Steelers as an organization and for the city as a passionate sports town — and pointed out comparisons with his former team.
“There’s only a few of those kind of cornerstone franchises in the league,” Rodgers said. “Packers have obviously been around for over 100 years, and the Steelers have been around for a long time. We’ve got a great history. It’s a great sports town. We were at the hockey game last night, so I saw Sid [Sidney Crosby] score a goal — Sid, Tang [Kris Letang] and Gino [Evgeni Malkin] have all been on the team I think 21 years, which is amazing. I’m in my 21st season, so I know how hard it is to stick around as long as those guys have. There’s something special about the connection.
“… In Green Bay and in Pittsburgh, there’s iconic players and they come back around, and they live in the city, and they call Pittsburgh home full time and there’s something special about that. Always said there’s something in the water when you look at the great quarterbacks that have come from the area, but it’s fun to be a part of this organization, and the iconic Packers organization for so long, too.”
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