Aaron Rodgers says the Steelers gave him enough to come back for one more season - and he’s making it clear this one is the end.
Rodgers confirmed that the 2026 campaign in Pittsburgh will be his last, after seriously weighing retirement once the 2025 season wrapped. The four-time NFL MVP said the pull to step away was real, but a few things shifted his thinking.
Speaking on SiriusXM, Rodgers pointed to the toll of his Achilles injury and the year-long rehab that followed.
"Tearing my Achilles and going through a year of rehab and just never feeling like myself, it just kind of beats you up a little bit," Rodgers said. "I didn't want that to be my ending in the game that I love so much.
"Mike [Tomlin] and being around the guys got me that love back. I was content in walking away.
And then they hired Mike McCarthy, and I was like, 'Okay, maybe we need a full circle here. Me and Mike need a full circle here.'"
Rodgers also said he had been looking ahead to life after football, including starting a family with his wife, before the Steelers brought in McCarthy. That connection matters: McCarthy was Rodgers’ coach during a 13-season run in Green Bay, a stretch that included a Super Bowl XLV title.
The 10-time Pro Bowler said there were times across the last three offseasons when retirement felt like the right call, but he kept paying attention to the signs and stayed in the game.
Rodgers was also back in the conversation for a different reason at Steelers training camp, where his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” drew attention. On Tuesday, he again discussed his views on COVID-19 vaccines and took shots at the media.
That didn’t sit well with NFL podcaster Charlotte Wilder, who weighed in on the "Sports Gossip Show."
“I think it shows how hypocritical he is,” Wilder said. “I think it shows how he’s also an unreliable narrator.
We can’t really believe anything he says about himself. And it’s almost to the point where when he says he’s not going to start a podcast.”
Wilder also suggested Rodgers’ steady media presence could be a hint that a podcast might be coming after his playing days are over.
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