October 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nIn truth, the ultra-competitive, chip-on-his-shoulder Rodgers has given no public indication that he\u2019s viewing Sunday night\u2019s game through such a prism. Whether that\u2019s what the soon-to-be 42-year-old Rodgers is feeling down deep inside, only he can say.<\/p>\n
But having seen firsthand what such an emotionally charged game can look like up close \u2014 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 \u2014 Rodgers made it clear to Pittsburgh-area reporters Wednesday afternoon that this game won\u2019t be anything close to the animus-fueled powder keg that Metrodome game was.<\/p>\n
For while both Favre and Rodgers saw their Packers careers end with trades to the New York Jets, Favre\u2019s and the Packers’ bloodthirst back then were far more intense than what Rodgers and the Packers are feeling now.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrett got traded and then he went to one of the hated rivals. I was in New Jersey for a couple years,\u201d Rodgers explained at his locker at the Steelers\u2019 facility Wednesday. \u201cI don’t have any animosity toward the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, 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 \u2018Sunday Night Football\u2019 again.\u201d<\/p>\n
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, \u201cWe’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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it would feel different if I was going back to Green Bay,\u201d Rodgers confessed. \u201cI have a lot of love for the organization, but if we’re playing Lambeau, that would be a little different feeling, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Rodgers\u2019 final game as a Packer (and his final game at Lambeau Field) on Jan. 8, 2023 wasn\u2019t all that long ago \u2014 two years, nine months and two weeks ago, to be exact \u2014 Rodgers\u2019 two star-crossed seasons with the Jets and the churning of the Packers\u2019 roster make if feel like ages.<\/p>\n
Only 14 players who were on the roster for Rodgers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s not that many guys left over there,\u201d Rodger said, name-checking team photographer Evan Siegle, director of performance nutrition Adam Korzun, and Bryan \u201cFlea\u201d Engel and Nate Weir, who lead the team\u2019s athletic training staff. \u201cI don’t know many of the guys over there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those that do still have connections with Rodgers spoke Wednesday of him in reverent, appreciative tones \u2014 especially Love and cornerback Keisean Nixon.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing into it, obviously I never knew what to expect, but Aaron was great to me all three years,\u201d said Love, who still exchanges text messages with Rodgers every few weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, going into this week it\u2019s going to be one of those very talked-about matchups. Just from my time with A-Rod and his time with the Packers, it\u2019s something that\u2019s going to be hyped up. But I\u2019m going against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense; he\u2019s going against the Green Bay Packers defense. We\u2019re not going against each other head-[to]-head.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a fun game. We\u2019re both competitors, we both want to come out with this win, [but] I\u2019m just excited to see him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Added Nixon: \u201cWhen you come to Green Bay, you hear stories about \u201812\u2019 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember when I was going through a slump early on in that year. I wasn\u2019t playing that much, and he was just telling me, \u2018It\u2019s going to come. Just be ready.\u2019 He instilled confidence in me really early, and I would always make a play and he\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll always appreciate him, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
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