If you thought the start of the regular season would be the end of the Aaron Rodgers rumor mill, you thought wrong. The latest destination at the center of this nonstop talker is last weeks opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
During his weekly appearance on Pat McAfee last week, Rodgers showered Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh with compliments:
“It’s a great blue-collar town. There’s a lot of great people that live there. It’s got a lot of history, that city. I have a ton of respect for Mike [Tomlin]. I think he’s a fantastic coach. I love the way that he leads. I love the way he talks after the games. He always seems to keep things really even-keeled. It looks like he’s somebody that the players love playing for him. They’ve had a great defense. It’s been a part of Pittsburgh, the franchise, for a long, long time, is [the] great defense.”
To many, it felt like more than just compliments. Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports agreed and was happy to fan the flames by writing:
Here’s the thing about many of the appearances that Rodgers makes with McAfee: More often than not, the questions McAfee throws often come in the form of an alley-oop that Rodgers seems to know is coming and wants to dunk.
All of this makes me believe that as Rodgers prepares for the Steelers this week, he’s keenly aware of three important points.
No. 1: The Steelers need a new quarterback this offseason.
No. 2: The roster is fairly loaded and needs only some tweaks.
No. 3: Much like Brady and Tampa Bay, the right quarterback and right tweaks can pay off huge in 2022.
Pretty soon every talking head in the business had a stance that sounded like Colin Cowherd.
Then, to add to the conspiracy-esq vibes, an in game moment between Tomlin and Rodgers blew up on Twitter. Rodgers attempted to quick-snap and catch the Steelers in a substitution. Tomlin was able to call a timeout instead. It led to a smile and a nod from each.
But as of yesterday, we have once again returned to reality. In this weeks appearance with Pat McAfee, Rodgers completely squashed everything:
“I’m just speaking the truth. Ask me a question about Mike Tomlin, I’m going to tell you how I feel about Mike Tomlin. If you want to take that and run with it and say I’m angling for my next team or something, I’m not. I’m just answering questions about Mike Tomlin.”
The same thing that was true in the pre season, is still true today. Aaron is a bit enigmatic and certainly willing to be honest with his feelings. It’s not a trait you usually get in a league where players are coached to give the most bland answers you can imagine. But it also doesn’t mean that Aaron is walking out the door every time he gives you an honest answer about his feelings or another organization. Everything we’ve seen since the moment he arrived in camp is a quarterback who is loving his team, system and community. And oh by the way, the Packers are gelling and winning football games. Number 12 as a Pittsburgh Steeler shouldn’t currently be on any Packer fans “worry radar.”
