Aaron Rodgers has a lot more to lose with the Steelers than he did with the Jets

New York Times

3 days ago

LATROBE, Pa. — It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood in the hometown of Fred Rogers, American TV icon, as the Pittsburgh Steelers opened camp amid rolling hills and old brick buildings and towering steeples that rose toward the sky.
Only on this summer afternoon, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood officially became Mister Rodgers' Neighborhood. Aaron Rodgers came bouncing down one of those hills at Saint Vincent College, holding his helmet in one hand and reaching out and touching fan after fan with the other as men, women and children in their Big Ben and Jerome Bettis and T.J. Watt jerseys shouted his name.
Aaron Rodgers walking down to first camp practice at SVC #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/prYrWp8HCf
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) July 24, 2025
It's early — as in really early — but an interception thrown on his very first pass in his very first team period of camp did not wreck a fun and hopeful opening act for what could be Rodgers' 21st and final NFL season. Nor did it dump a bucket of ice water on the notion that Rodgers and the Steelers represent an ideal match of a quarterback in dire need of a happy ending and a dead-serious coach inside a dead-serious franchise with six Super Bowl trophies stuffed in its case.
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Mike Tomlin is exactly what Rodgers needs to finish his career. After a season defined by signature Jets buffoonery, Rodgers needed a coach who doesn't suffer fools easily. He needed Tomlin, a partner who can cut all the fat out of Rodgers' professional life (or most of it anyway) and bring him back to his roots in the game.
Make him a football player again, nothing more or less.
As former Super Bowl foes in the quarterback's early Green Bay days, Tomlin and Rodgers have been flirting with each other for a long time. This marriage was destined to happen. If Rodgers can make Tomlin a playoff winner again after the quarterback turns 42 in December, it's going to be one helluva story.
Aaron Rodgers spoke to the media following Thursday's #SteelersCamp practice
Full Media Availability ⬇️
— Steelers Live (@SteelersLive) July 24, 2025
But there is a potential downside to this union that could have considerable long-term consequences. Rodgers has a lot more to lose here than he ever had with the Jets, because if he posts another 5-12 record or a 6-11 or a 7-10 or an 8-9 before calling it quits, that record will stick to the quarterback and his historical standing in the sport.
The Steelers are not in the business of sub-.500 seasons. Ever. Tomlin has strung together 18 consecutive non-losing years, 15 of them winning years. He has made a dozen trips to the playoffs, two trips to the Super Bowl, and one trip to the ultimate victory stand.
Tomlin has won 63 percent of his games while starting Ben Roethlisberger and the likes of Charlie Batch, Dennis Dixon, Landry Jones, Michael Vick, Mason Rudolph, Devlin 'Duck' Hodges, Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
Even Duck Hodges went 3-3 with the Steelers.
As he waves goodbye, Rodgers can't be the face of Tomlin's first losing season. There will be a price to be paid for that.
Coach Tomlin spoke to the media following the first #SteelersCamp practice.
Full Media Availability ⬇️
— Steelers Live (@SteelersLive) July 24, 2025
Rodgers' last employer amounted to an entirely different story. Long a dysfunctional operation, the Jets were the anti-Steelers. The last time they even appeared in a Super Bowl, Richard Nixon had yet to be inaugurated for his first presidential term.
The Jets recruited Rodgers as a savior, and they didn't even try to hide it. In fact, they promoted this truth every hour on the hour and allowed the Packers legend to hand-pick his teammates, his coaches and his plays.
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On arrival, Rodgers spoke openly of finding a companion for a lonely-looking Super Bowl III trophy, and the beaten-down fan base ate it up. All the way until the fourth snap of the 2023 season, when Rodgers went down with a ruptured Achilles.
The injury stole Year 1 in New York and all but ruined Year 2 in New York, and that was that. The Hail Mary king took a Hail Mary gamble on the Jets, thinking a championship with them in the big city would almost be worth two or three rings, and it was a Hollywood-sized flop.
And yet ultimately that would've been OK. In assessing where, exactly, the four-time MVP stood as an all-time great, many would have dismissed 2023 and 2024 as just another extension of the Jets being the Jets.
Of Woody Johnson being Woody Johnson.
But Pittsburgh offers no such sanctuary, no alternative place for the haters to go. The Steelers don't know how to lose. Their miserable years come in the form of first-round postseason exits.
Pittsburgh is growing tired of Tomlin and his inability to advance in the playoffs? Hey, there are about 25 fan bases in the NFL that would be thrilled to have him.
Tomlin is betting on Rodgers to help make this seminal season special, and to honor Omar Khan's stated Super Bowl aims after the Steelers' general manager made a series of loud offseason moves.
Was it a smart bet? After getting fired by the Jets, Rodgers seems awfully content in the hands of competent people.
The receiver he shares a suite with in their dorm, DK Metcalf, said his quarterback is equally skilled at communicating with one and all, making fun of the young guys and commanding the huddle.
Rookie quarterback Will Howard described Rodgers in similar terms, saying he 'just looks happy' when around his teammates.
'I didn't really know what to expect from him,' Howard said, 'and that was the biggest thing when he came in and he said, 'Give me a clean slate. Get to know me for me.'
'And I wanted to do that. I didn't want to come in with any expectations of who he was, and in getting to know him, he's such a down-to-earth good guy. He likes to joke around and have fun … but also, you can just tell it's pure and he loves the game. He wants to be here because he loves football. He wants to end his career the right way.'
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Steelers fans want the same thing. So they packed the bleachers at Chuck Noll Field and sat in lawn chairs under umbrellas to hide from the sun.
Rodgers had some good throws and some bad throws and reminded reporters afterward that he's been 'pretty stellar taking care of the football' throughout his career.
'I'm going to throw some picks,' Rodgers said, 'but I'm going to throw some touchdowns too.'
He needs six more to hurdle Brett Favre (508 touchdown passes) and land in fourth place on the all-time list, and anyone who knows Aaron Rodgers knows that nugget was somewhere on his Reasons to Play One More Year list.
But the biggest reason was to chase a second championship ring one last time. That pursuit started Thursday in Latrobe, also the hometown of Arnold Palmer, the ultimate go-for-broke golfer.
In his old age, Aaron Rodgers is still capable of putting his ball in the fairway. But his career scorecard is going to take a hit if he hooks this Steelers season into the trees.