Aaron Rodgers says he nearly left football behind this year, and it took a conversation at home to pull him back in for one last run.
The 42-year-old quarterback told reporters at Steelers training camp on Tuesday that he plans to play the 2026 season in Pittsburgh, and that this will be his final campaign. Rodgers said he had been convinced his career was over after Mike Tomlin stepped down following the 2025 season.
Then Mike McCarthy was hired as head coach, and that changed the picture. McCarthy, of course, previously coached Rodgers to a Super Bowl title with the Green Bay Packers.
That reunion reopened the door. Rodgers said he then spoke with his wife Brittani, whose influence helped settle the decision.
“I thought last year might be it,” Rodgers said. “And then Mike got hired and I talked to the wife and she said ‘you can do one more year, see if it works out’ and then it all came together.”
Rodgers made it clear there’s no mystery about what comes next after this season.
“No, zero debate,” Rodgers stated when asked about continuing.
That answer also shut down any idea that teammate DK Metcalf had floated about Rodgers sticking around beyond 2026.
Rodgers has kept Brittani largely out of the public eye. He first brought her up on The Pat McAfee Show and later confirmed they married. He has said she wants no part of celebrity life.
“I am with somebody who’s private, who doesn’t want to be in the public eye, didn’t sign up to be a celebrity, doesn’t want to be part of it,” he said. “And because I do things in private because I want my personal life to be private and now I’m somehow weird and now the paparazzi is stalking me on the beach trying to get a picture of her, stalking me in the workout.”
The couple met in 2017, and Rodgers has repeatedly said she never signed up for the spotlight.
He also said he may take extra rest days during the season to stay fresh. The Steelers open the year against the Atlanta Falcons on September 13.
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