Aaron Rodgers Media Availability (Oct 22) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Aaron Rodgers Media Availability (Oct 22) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Does it still feel any different playing a former team that you spent 18 years with? Again, it would feel different if it was going back to Green Bay, but um I have a lot of love for the organization, but you know, if we were playing Lambo, that would be a little different feeling for sure. What are your emotions heading into Sunday? Just excited about the game. How close are you with some of the guys? I know there’s not that many guys left that were there when you Ain’t that many guys? Yeah. I don’t know many of the guys over there. the guys I talked to and I was looking at my phone. I got a text from the uh the photographer Evan. I love the nutritionist Adam hit me up yesterday. My longtime buddy Nate, one of the trainers hit me up uh Monday. So those are the I mean I was with those guys for the majority of the 18 years, you know, with Evan for about 12 to 15 and Adam for about the same and Nate for 18 and some of the equipment guys for a long time, Flee, you know, Brian the head trainer for all 18. So a lot of great relationships over there. You’ve talked about the prestige of both the Steelers organization and the Packers. Did you see similarities in the close-knitness maybe of the Steelers organization when you were looking at at coming here in free agency? Were there similarities between here in Green Bay that that stood out to you and that made this appealing to you? Well, Mike T made it appealing to me, but I was around Pittsburgh people my entire football career, starting with Mike McCarthy for 13 years. Mike’s from Greenfield, you know, and his love for this city and how he talked about it and playing uh, you know, playing with Dom Capers on the staff and Darren Perry and Kevin Green and Ben Mcadoo in my room and Frank Signetti and Luke Gatsy, Alex Vanfelt, you know, a lot of people from this area. So, uh, I I knew a lot about it just from talking to those guys. I knew what a great sports town it is, what a great tradition the Steelers have, and I was definitely a part of it. But like I said, Mike T was the was the first reason. Kind of on the same note, but kind of on the same note, how special is it to play for two iconic franchises, as you called them when you first got here? Yeah, I mean, there’s there’s only a few of those kind of cornerstone franchise in the league and Packers obviously been around for over 100 years, and Steelers been around for a long time. We got a great history. It’s a great sports town. We’re at the hockey game last night. Saw Sid score a goal and you know Sid, Latang, and Gino all been in 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. You know, I’m in the uh in the suite with uh Mario’s uh you know, bodyguard Jay up there. Had a great conversation with him. You know, Kil’s in there as well. I played against Kil. That’s one of the cool things that Keith and I were talking about last night, how in Green Bay and and in uh Pittsburgh, there’s 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 it’s fun to be a part of this organization and and the iconic Packers organization for so long, too. you played against Cleveland. What did you like about how you you and the offensive line handled Garrett? And is any of that applicable to Parsons this week or is he uh deployed completely different? Well, I mean, he’s deployed maybe a little different because he moves around a little bit more than maybe Miles does, but uh you know, again, those two are in the conversation of the very few players in the league that you actually have to have four hands on at all times. You know, we felt this way about our guy here, TJ. You know, we played him last year. We wanted to make sure he wasn’t getting a lot of singles. And letting us mic up before, he’s a phenomenal player. He’s a future Hall of Famer. He’s a game record. And you got to know where he’s at at all times. Watching last Thursday’s game, I couldn’t help but think about the 2009 game with the Packers at Hines Field. Were you thinking about that game at all? 2009. Yeah. I think it was 37 36. I remember that game. Yeah. I mean, we had we had a big night throwing it, starting with Greg down the middle for about 85. Um, and then James Jones, you know, on the on the shake route to to go ahead and then Ben let him down the field. Back shoulder Mike for the win. No, I wasn’t thinking about that game, but that was a that was a fun game to the last seconds. Erin, have you uh are you in any contact with Jordan love at all? He’s been very, you know, he’s talked about how your impact on him early in his career and sort of what you made of this. Yeah, I texted with him um last week because they had played uh a couple common opponents, so we had a couple texts back and forth. Um he’s a great kid, man. He really is. I enjoyed my time with him. I’m not surprised by how he’s playing. He’s playing great. Uh 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. I had my kind of moment in ‘ 07 against Dallas where I came in and Brett got hurt and played well. He had kind of his moment against Philly in 22 where he came in, I got banged up and he he looked great. And I think that was kind of the the message to the organization that this guy’s ready to play. I felt like it in 07. He probably felt like it in 22. So, really happy for him. He’s one of the real good guys in the league. I’m sure his leadership is continuing to grow over there. Um, but I like the way he’s playing. You know, he’s super accurate. He’s taking care of the football. He’s being opportunistic. Uh, making great throws down the field and using his legs as well. You know, when you when you guys played uh in09 when Brett came the V when you guys played the Vikings for the first time, Fred had a big game. It was considered like a quote Fred Farber revenge game. Obviously the dynamic there when he left was different than maybe when you did. Is is that maybe is this is that an apples to apples comparison in terms of emotions? No. Not not that you don’t view this as a quote revenge opportunity or whatever narrative we want to try to throw out there. I don’t. Why not? Well, Brett got traded and then he went to one of the hated rivals. You know, I was in New Jersey for a couple years. Um I don’t have any animosity toward the organization. Obviously, I wish that, you know, things have been better in our last year there, but um you know, I have a great relationship with a lot of people still in that organization and uh I don’t this is not a revenge game for me. I’m just excited to see some of those guys and beyond Sunday Night Football again. Have your feelings toward the organization evolve the longer you’ve been away from them that not feeling animosity? Is that something you kind of had to work to feel or work to get to this point? We’re always working on ourselves and trying to be better than we were uh previous day, previous month, previous year, but uh absence makes the heart grow fonder maybe. Um you know, have a lot of great memories from my time there. A lot of great interactions with fans over the years. you know, living in Green Bay, living in Swamco, living in Hobart, going to Chives, being out and about, seeing people at the Piggly Wiggly when I’m shopping for groceries. Uh, I grew up there. I spent 18 years there from 21 to 39. So, I’m uh thankful for my time there. Obviously, would have loved to ride off in the sunset after Super Bowl, but that’s not the way the league goes sometimes. And uh, you know, I knew the writing was on the wall when Jordan was picked. and it was 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 uh if I wanted to play, I’d probably have to be elsewhere. So, I understand the situation. You know, we live and we learn and and uh I have nothing but love and appreciation for the fan base, for the city of Green Bay, for the city of Swamco and Hobart where I lived for so many years. Um I’m excited to see a lot of those people. The Packers are one of the best defenses at limiting big plays and you guys have had a lot of big plays yourself this year. What do you guys have to do to counter what they do really well on defense, especially the cohesion on the back end? Yeah, I mean, they they’re at the top of the league in in the least amount of explosives in the run game and the pass game. Um, so we got to, you know, we got to take care of the football. We got to block up their rushers. You know, it’s not just Micah. You know, Rashan is an elite pass rusher now. They got good guys inside. They have some younger guys rush on the outside who can play as well. you know, the the second level. Quay, I played with him and saw him as a rookie. He’s developed and became a really good player in the league. Cooper’s really good player in the league as well. You know, he’s definitely gotten better. Uh Keshan, you know, was our punt returner and kick returner. Love Keshan. What a great dude. And now he’s a number one corner and he’s been playing really well. They added McKenna on the back end who had a huge year last year and definitely uh has been playing great, you know, since the day he got there. So, you got to be patient and uh you can’t turn the ball over and uh we got to block it up up front. How do you feel about the trajectory of this office? Yeah, I feel good. I feel like we’re we’re moving in the right direction. Um you know, we’ve uh started to figure out what our identity is and and we’ve gotten obviously Spence a lot of opportunities as our sixth lineman on the field. It’s kind of given teams some issues run the football. Jaylen has been really dynamic and we’ve he’s kind of been a different guy every week. I feel like uh you know DK obviously had a big game against the Vikings and and uh you know then Pat comes back uh last week and and uh had a huge game. So it’s different guys every week but uh Jaylen and Kenny have been really uh really consistent for us and our line’s been blocking really well the last three weeks. Is that an improved comfort level for you then just given the time you spend? Is it are you more comfortable with what you’re doing out there? I’m definitely more comfortable with what I’m doing and I’m more comfortable when I’m staying clean. The only guy the only tackle I had the other night was Brick. So other than that, I’m feeling pretty good. What went through your mind when he tackled you in that uh celebratory moment? Rod is always the first one to come find me after a play. It could be like the first big pass down to DK on third down. He’s coming and dapping me up. And what you don’t see in the video is right after the throw, he’s coming over to me and shaking me and shaking me. And like I text him, I said, “Hey, man. I love your energy. I love everything you’re about.” But also, I’m 41, okay? You can’t be out there tackling me like that. But I love Brad. We had we had a couple laughs about it. And uh you know, I told him I’m getting him next. You better watch his back. I was going to ask you about two more. Two more. You brought up Pat before. Was that the dawn of some more that can come for him or was that more of a matchup specific thing with the Bengals? Um, how how did that bear from in that game? I think so much, you know, media narratives are around, you know, targets and different guys, you know, getting open, making plays. And in actuality, it depends on the defense that that they’re playing. And I like to throw it to the guys that are open. And depending on the coverages and the schemes that we face, some guys might have more opportunities than others. And this just happened to be a game where when we were in 12 and he was in the slot, he had some opportunities vertical. Um, so I’m proud of Pat. The one thing that I I tried to highlight after the game that I thought was most impressive was this is a tough league to play in because every single week, uh, if you want to, you can read about how great you are or how terrible you are. Uh, and I I try and remind guys not to stay in that roller coaster, but if you’re not getting targets and you’re a high money guy and you want to be an impact uh on game day, you know, it’s got to be tough on the psyche on confidence. But Pat never never about anything. He’s never making it about him. And I think there’s a lot to be said for that in this day and age with a guy who can really be a team a team guy and know that at some point my number’s going to get called and I got to make the plays. And on Thursday night, his number got called in in crunch time. Third and 18, you know, third and 18 on the 19 yard line to catch a touchdown and then second and 20 late in the game to go ahead. I mean, I give him a lot of credit uh not just as a player, but as a person for the way he carried himself and his attitude to that last on the on the Hail Mary, right? 70 yards on the Hail Mary. Uh where is that? I mean, what did you do with 28? How far did you throw at 28? And could you have thrown a further? Well, the ball came off good. I felt like I was trying to get to my spot. Best throw of my life is a 2015 Hail Mary because although that one didn’t go as far, it went way way the hell higher. Almost hit the Raptors up there in forward field. But um but the ball came off good. Um I thought we had a chance. You know, I think we need to be a little tighter in some of those end of game situations because uh I’m trying to throw the ball two yards deep in the end zone on the numbers on that play and we weren’t all in the right spot at the right time. So, we got to have everybody on the same page in those crunch time situations. You might only get one or two times a season. We got to be perfect. Um but the line blocked up the way we wanted to. Uh, and I threw the way I wanted to and we had a

Aaron Rodgers spoke to the media on Wednesday, October 22 ahead of the Steelers Week 8 game against the Packers

#HereWeGo #Steelers #NFL