GREEN BAY — Aaron Rodgers has always been a film buff, and while some of his movie reviews are open to question — like his declaration that Back to the Future III is the best installment of the time-traveling trilogy — he certainly has his favorites. 

The Princess Bride. (Of which he knows every line.) Point Break. (The original, not the remake.) White Christmas. (His No. 1 holiday movie.) John Wick. (Sensing a Keanu Reeves theme?) The Big Lebowski. (He even wore Jeff Bridges’ famous sweater after a 2016 game.)

Un. Be. Lieve. A. Ble. pic.twitter.com/E7CWKPs1Hr

— Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) October 21, 2016

And, of course, Tombstone, which he will tell you is the greatest Western ever made and ranks just behind The Princess Bride at No. 2 in his cinematic power rankings.

So when the four-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl XLV champ and future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback was asked whether Sunday night’s matchup — between his current team, the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2), and his former team, the Green Bay Packers (4-1-1) — would be a revenge game, it must’ve been difficult for Rodgers to fight off the urge to quote Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday character in one of the most famous scenes in Tombstone, which he’d done before.

“It’s not revenge he’s after,” Kilmer’s Holliday says, “it’s a reckoning.”

When Aaron Rodgers said today that #Packers–#Steelers is “not a revenge game” for him, all I could think of was Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday, in one of Rodgers’ all-time favorite movies, “Tombstone.” pic.twitter.com/YHWBA2dcSN

— Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) October 23, 2025

In truth, the ultra-competitive, chip-on-his-shoulder Rodgers has given no public indication that he’s viewing Sunday night’s game through such a prism. Whether that’s what the soon-to-be 42-year-old Rodgers is feeling down deep inside, only he can say.

But having seen firsthand what such an emotionally charged game can look like up close — when he was quarterbacking the Packers against his predecessor, Brett Favre, and the Minnesota Vikings in a pair of games at the Metrodome and at Lambeau Field during the 2009 season — Rodgers made it clear to Pittsburgh-area reporters Wednesday afternoon that this game won’t be anything close to the animus-fueled powder keg that Metrodome game was.

For while both Favre and Rodgers saw their Packers careers end with trades to the New York Jets, Favre’s and the Packers’ bloodthirst back then were far more intense than what Rodgers and the Packers are feeling now.

“Brett got traded and then he went to one of the hated rivals. I was in New Jersey for a couple years,” Rodgers explained at his locker at the Steelers’ facility Wednesday. “I don’t have any animosity toward the organization.

“Obviously, I wish that things had been better in our last year there, but I have a great relationship with a lot of people still in that organization. This is not a revenge game for me. I’m just excited to see some of those guys and be on ‘Sunday Night Football’ again.”

Asked if his feelings toward the organization have softened since general manager Brian Gutekunst selected his successor, Jordan Love, in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft and the trade three years later that sent him to the Dumpster fire that is the Jets, Rodgers replied, “We’re always working on ourselves and trying to be better than we were previous day, previous month, previous year. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, maybe.

“I have a lot of great memories from my time, a lot of great interactions with fans over the years. Living in Green Bay … I grew up there. I spent 18 years there, [from age] 21 to 39. So, I’m thankful for my time there.

“Obviously, I would have loved to ride off into sunset after a Super Bowl win, but that’s not the way the league goes sometimes. 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 if I wanted to play, it would probably have to be elsewhere. So, I understand the situation.

“We live and we learn, and I have nothing but love and appreciation for the fan base, for the city of Green Bay, for the city of Suamico and Hobart, where I lived for so many years. I’m excited to see a lot of those people.”

Rodgers, who is slated to do a Zoom call with a handful of Wisconsin-based reporters on Thursday, did allow that his emotions for the game might be more intense if it was being played at Lambeau Field, the site of so many of those unforgettable moments he had during his 18 seasons in Green Bay, with 15 of them spent as the starting quarterback.

“I think it would feel different if I was going back to Green Bay,” Rodgers confessed. “I have a lot of love for the organization, but if we’re playing Lambeau, that would be a little different feeling, for sure.”

Although Rodgers’ final game as a Packer (and his final game at Lambeau Field) on Jan. 8, 2023 wasn’t all that long ago — two years, nine months and two weeks ago, to be exact — Rodgers’ two star-crossed seasons with the Jets and the churning of the Packers’ roster make if feel like ages.

Only 14 players who were on the roster for Rodgers’ final game in Green Bay are still with the team today, although head coach Matt LaFleur and 11 of his assistants are still on staff.

“There’s not that many guys left over there,” Rodger said, name-checking team photographer Evan Siegle, director of performance nutrition Adam Korzun, and Bryan “Flea” Engel and Nate Weir, who lead the team’s athletic training staff. “I don’t know many of the guys over there.”

Those that do still have connections with Rodgers spoke Wednesday of him in reverent, appreciative tones — especially Love and cornerback Keisean Nixon.

“Coming into it, obviously I never knew what to expect, but Aaron was great to me all three years,” said Love, who still exchanges text messages with Rodgers every few weeks.

“Obviously, going into this week it’s going to be one of those very talked-about matchups. Just from my time with A-Rod and his time with the Packers, it’s something that’s going to be hyped up. But I’m going against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense; he’s going against the Green Bay Packers defense. We’re not going against each other head-[to]-head.

“It’s going to be a fun game. We’re both competitors, we both want to come out with this win, [but] I’m just excited to see him.” 

Added Nixon: “When you come to Green Bay, you hear stories about ‘12’ — like, arrogance, mean, and stuff like that. But it was never that. I never experienced that with Aaron. It was always good vibes. He always lifted players up.

“I remember when I was going through a slump early on in that year. I wasn’t playing that much, and he was just telling me, ‘It’s going to come. Just be ready.’ He instilled confidence in me really early, and I would always make a play and he’d be the first one to come over to the sideline and congratulate me. That was always big as a young player, especially who he was as a person.

“I’ll always appreciate him, for sure.”

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