PITTSBURGH — Aaron Rodgers certainly wants to beat the Green Bay Packers. But only because it's his job.
There will be nothing personal on the line for Rodgers when he stands up at Acresur Stadium on Sunday night and sees the team he has led so successfully and for so long on the other touchline for the first time in his 21-year career.
“This is not a rematch game for me,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “I’m just glad to see some of these guys.”
And Rodgers isn't just talking about the dozen or so Packers he played alongside at the end of his stellar 18-year run in Green Bay.
Asked who in the organization he's kept in touch with in the more than two years since he was traded to the New York Jets after the team decided to move on with Jordan Love, Rodgers named everyone from the team's photographer to its nutritionist to longtime Green Bay coach Nate Weir.
“There are a lot of great relationships there,” Rogers said.
Rodgers simply isn't interested in fueling any stories about him wanting to prove a point, like Brett Favre did in 2009 when Favre faced Rodgers and the Packers while playing for Minnesota. Favre threw three touchdowns in his return to Lambeau Field while leading the Vikings to a late victory in what became known as the “Favre Revenge Game.”
For Rogers, wanting that kind of payback would mean he's angry about how things turned out. This is wrong. At least not anymore.
“Perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder,” he said.
Yes, he would love to lead the Packers to another Super Bowl to cap the one he led them to after the 2010 season. But that didn't happen, despite Green Bay playing in the playoffs for most of Rodgers' tenure.
“I have no animosity towards this organization,” he said. “Of course, I would have liked things to have been better in our last year there. But you know, I have great relationships with a lot of people who are still in this organization.”
When Rodgers walked into the tunnel at Lambeau after a stunning loss to Detroit in the 2022 regular-season finale, that the franchise was ready to give the job to Love and that Love, selected as Rodgers' heir apparent when Green Bay selected him in the first round of the 2020 draft, was ready to take over in much the same way Rodgers did for Favre in 2008.
What followed were two eventful, if disappointing, seasons with the New York Jets before the 41-year-old Rodgers signed with Pittsburgh in June.
Rodgers seems to be playing at peace this season, perhaps in part because of the similarities between two of the league's most storied clubs and the cities they represent, from their tradition-rich history to their small-town atmosphere.
However, no matter how well this season goes, Rodgers knows nothing will ever replace Green Bay.
“I grew up there,” he said. “I spent 18 years there.”
And he leaned towards him. He checked the names of the two villages he lived in — Suamico and Hobart — and smiled as he recounted conversations he had with Packers fans during grocery runs, a testament to the shared relationship between the nation's only national NFL franchise and the players who wear the green and gold.
Along the way, Rogers created a legacy that will take him to the Gold Jacket ceremony in Canton, Ohio, five years after he retires for good, whenever that may be.
“I have nothing but love and appreciation for the fans, for the city of Green Bay,” he said.
So no, he won't be thinking about wanting to show the Packers that they moved away from him too soon. He'll be more concerned with his offensive line finding a way to keep Green Bay edge rusher Micah Parsons as far away from him as possible, while also finding a way for the Steelers to bounce back from last week's 33-31 loss to Cincinnati that cost them the opportunity to build a comfortable lead in the AFC North.
“I'm definitely more comfortable with what I'm doing,” said Rodgers, who has 14 touchdown passes and five interceptions. “I feel more comfortable when I stay clean.”
Rodgers took the hardest hit against the Bengals from 311-pound Steelers left tackle Broderick Jones, who inadvertently tackled the visibly smaller Rodgers while marking a late pass to Pat Freiermuth that briefly gave Pittsburgh the lead.
“I texted him, ‘Hey man, I love your energy. I like everything you say. But I’m also 41 years old, okay?” You can’t fight me like that,” Rogers said with a laugh.
The only caveat Rodgers offers ahead of facing the Packers is that his emotions might be different if the Steelers were traveling to Green Bay. The planning gods offered no such pageant this time.
Rogers will undoubtedly return to Lambeau at some point. Perhaps to have his number 12 jersey retired in the same way that Favre's number 4 was a decade ago.
There was a time in his career when he wanted to be a one-helmet guy and never play anywhere else. Such opportunities are rare. The NFL is a business. Rogers went further. The Packers moved on.
Sunday evening will be about the moment, not the memories.
