Admitting my true issue with Aaron Rodgers joining the Steelers
When the possibility of Aaron Rodgers joining the Pittsburgh Steelers first came out in March, I was adamantly against it. The Steelers didn’t need a player like Rodgers and his inflated salary that he would demand. His “me first“ attitude in the locker room was not something that the Steelers should welcome. It was just a bad idea.
Fast forward three months and I feel completely different. Once the salary situation didn’t seem to be nearly what I thought it would, and I looked more into how Rodgers was viewed by past teammates, and I thought maybe it wasn’t so bad. I even went as far to state the unpopular opinion that Rodgers was the best-case scenario the Steelers could have at quarterback for 2025.
So where did my initial feelings come from?
The easy answer is to say that I never liked Aaron Rodgers as a player. Thinking about it, I don’t know that I always dislike Rodgers, but I didn’t want him anywhere close to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Was it because of his viewpoints on various non-football related topics? Was it the darkness retreats? Was it just his overall quirkiness?
It didn’t matter. If it had to do with Aaron Rodgers, I didn’t like it.
After hearing so many complaints from Steelers’ Nation, although there are still plenty that are more than on board with his arrival, I wonder if a lot of people are coming out at it the same way I am. I finally admitted to myself my ultimate problem with Aaron Rodgers…
It began on a Sunday evening in February. The date was February 6, 2011. Only two years removed from their last Super Bowl win, the Pittsburgh Steelers were facing the Green Bay Packers at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. Even though the Packers were three point favorites going into the game, I was ready for the Steelers to hoist the Lombardi trophy for a seventh time.
Aaron Rodgers screwed that up.
I admit that every little thing that Aaron Rodgers did after that point made me not like him. He was a quarterback that defeated my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl. There was no hope for him.
If Aaron Rodgers had been a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers since that 2010 season, I don’t know if all the other little things would have bothered me that much. Instead, all those things were added to the list as to why I didn’t like the player who beat the Steelers in the Super Bowl. I can openly admit now that is the number one thing as to why I did not care for Aaron Rodgers.
So am I wrong for constantly hoping this quarterback who beat the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV would fail? Not for the last 14 seasons. But I’m definitely not going to root for him to fail this year.
To admit my consistency, I can’t stand Troy Aikman either. Even though the Steelers were huge underdog in Super Bowl XXX, he’s still a quarterback who beat them. He will always be dead to me. Even as an announcer I don’t like him. Troy Aikman sucks… because he beat the Steelers in the Super Bowl.
So I’m ready to admit why I wanted to see Aaron Rodgers fail at every point of his career since that fateful night in February 2011. I’m not going to deny it. But now rather than keeping the Steelers from the Super Bowl, he is tasked with trying to get them there to win another one. Although I think it’s still a long-shot if they do, it’s the only acceptable way, at least in my eyes, that it would be bearable for Aaron Rodgers to be a two-time Super Bowl champion.
Thu 24 Jul 2025, 1355 hours
I’ve been to St. Vincent College, not once to see the Steelers. Not much shade over there. My H.S. Math teacher really liked visiting the campus.
The reason why I don’t like Aaron Rodgers is clear. He embodies virtually every characteristic that makes me not like a lot rich and famous people to begin with. By most accounts, Rodgers is arrogant and professionally selfish. He appears to occupy the same “I am rich and famous so I must know more than you do” space as do a lot of Hollywood types. While this can be said of a lot of athletes, Aaron Rodgers seems to take things to the next level.
Grace and humility are wonderful traits. Aaron Rodgers doesn’t appear have an ounce of either. Regarding quarterbacking skills, Mason Rudolph can learn a whole lot from Aaron Rodgers. Regarding grace and humility though? Rodgers could learn an awful lot from Rudolph in that regard.
Sometimes learning from observation is learning what NOT to do. I think Mason and Will are smart enough to take away the “do’s” and “don’ts” from what they’ll be observing. There will be valueable moments for them this season – on both sides of the score card.
Good thought, JoeB.
I think he hinders 2026’s qb chase. He gets 1-3 more wins than Mason. If we know he doesn’t help win a Super Bowl (I guess never say never) what is the point? That is my main objection to signing him. Wasn’t a fan of his before either mainly because his arrogance and me first attitude, but I’m already over it once I figured he’d end up in Pittsburgh. I know you don’t want to just throw away seasons, so I totally understand why they made the move. It’ll be Steelers football, so I’ll be rooting for him on sundays. In the wide words of big bro scho… can’t wait! Here we go
Yeah, AARod’s not gonna affect the ’26 drafting of a QB much, IMO, unless he plays really well and is granted a new contract. There is always future draft capital to trade, just need to find a trading partner and a target to draft, and hope that guy falls to where you’re choosing.
Roethlisberger said +4 wins, McFadden said +2 wins, and you say +1-3 wins will be provided by AARod as compared to Rudolph. If so, then that’s good. It is the idea to win games in pursuit of a championship. Is that not the business the Steelers are in? Playing football to win?
11 wins should be a cinch. Worth looking forward to.
I believe in winning, period. Once you start playing the draft position game you are in trouble. Sometimes you can climb out of it sometimes you cannot. I look at teams like the Buffalo Bills. They had the Kelly teams that couldn’t get over the hump then went without a play berth from 2000-2016. If you talk playoff wins they went from 1996-2019 without winning. A team that went to 4 straight Super Bowls fell off the earth for 20 years.
You can think that something like that can’t happen to the Steelers, but Buffalo drafted a 2nd, 3rd, and two 1st round QB’s before drafting Allen.
In my book every win is a blessing, and you shouldn’t take it for granted as a fan.
Nah, I saw the Steelers enough, bad and good. 1960s were peachy. Different circumstances, though.
I’m more saying the draft order. I think being 7-10 is much different than 10-7, and can really harm you in getting a top qb/the guy you want
John, I understand, and again, regardless of Pgh’s future draft position, Pgh will have future draft capital to trade. For example, the 2017 Chiefs trade up to 10th from 27th in the 1st round using their 1st and 3rd round picks in 2017 and their 1st round pick in 2018. And, Pgh isn’t likely to draft the best-regarded QB candidate anyway–Mahomes wasn’t considered as such in 2017. Only one way to ensure a high draft pick, and that is to have a bad record, 7-10 is not likely to be sufficiently poor.
All will be well at the ’26 draft that can be.
Okay what’s your backup plan should the 26 Class look like the 25 Class?
What’s yours, 87? Me not in Steelers’ FO, me opinion no matter. Hey are you also a fan of Roy Jefferson? He wore 87, so did Larry Brown before he moved to tackle.
My backup plan is the same as my initial plan. Take Joy in seeing Steeler Fans get upset at the 26 Class being like the 25 Class. My username is not based on any Steeler Player past or present.
Fairly boring plan. I’m not a hockey fan, Sid.
So what? Not like anybody else has a backup plan. What I see is literally every Steeler Fan or a vast majority of them banking on the 26 Class to produce 4-5 QB’s that even telling them that it could go the other way is almost sacrilege. Fans don’t want the 26 Class to fail cause they have no alternative options.
Sure so many will come out and say “Well why not let Howard have a shot?”, but who are those people kidding. These would be fans who would be “choosing” Howard by default not anything else so should the 26 Class become what I believe it will become then oh the joy I will have and the misery that will follow.
Andy Reid had a backup plan. Who knows what the Steelers’ FO will do? So many surprises. Anyhow, I don’t bank, I’ve a credit union membership.
Gotta get joy somewhere–what’s that, schadenfreude? Wife just got back from Germany, educational. Seems small of ya, 87.
Maybe this approach works, elsewhere.
Yes, oh yes, Big Red had a plan. He planned his work and worked his plan. Noll and McDermott, they had luck, patience, and hard work. Andy had a plan, which worked. Maybe Pgh could embrace Andy’s plan. We’ll see. Maybe Pgh will try luck, patience, and hard work.
Oh well, enjoy the schadenfreude, 87. Go Oilers! Or is it Panthers? Saw Blackhawks in Chicago back in ’90. Good skating.
What I said holds true cause you ask Steeler Fans about their expectations in Rd 1 of the 26 Draft they will tell you “I’m expecting them to draft a Top Notch QB” my issue with that is, what happens should that not be the case?
I like what I’ve heard from Howard and I would be more than happy to give him a fair chance to compete for the job, but I know that a lot of fans don’t want that to happen and other than the dumb reasons of: Poor Combine Performance (what a croc of BS that is), Surrounded by Top Notch Talent at Ohio St (Never seemed to be the knock against Fields and Stroud when they entered) and ‘He’s a 6th Rd pick (Okay that one is fair but not entirely fair) At some point what a player does on the fields means way way way way way way more than combine Performances and all that other stuff.
Hey Sid, is it the Oilers, or Panthers?! Waiting…skating.
Do you listen to Pantera, by chance? Pantera is cute and fluffy.
87, will you check out the strawberry moon at 3:44 AM? Gonna be COOL!!
Yeah I guess they won’t ever be at the top 5 even via trade, most likely
Most likely not. Much to overcome to move that high, for example, the infamous 1999 Saints’ trade-up for Ricky Williams.
The only person I was angry with after the Steelers lost to the Packers in the Super Bowl was whoever called that deep pass play which Roethlisberger threw for the pick-six from his own end zone. That play call was totally unnecessary and the Packers’ TD proved to be the difference in the final score. I have a hunch the culprit was Bruce Arians, but I’m not sure whether that was ever confirmed.
I take that blame for that loss. I went to Detroit and Tampa for XL and XLIII and chose not to go to Dallas for XLV. I am still not sure why. I even had a friend to stay with there.
a true Pittsburgh Steelers fan, since the 70’s as a Steelers fan like I said before I don’t like the Idea of Steelers owner Arthur Joseph Rooney ll wasting time and money chasing Aaron Rodgers when Arthur Joseph Rooney ll could’ve use the money to give T.J. Watt a new contract and furthermore it’s very unfair to sit Mason Rudolph and give Aaron Rodgers the starting quarterback position