His career came to an unspectacular end. Now Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh make it into the knockout round at the last second. Will he possibly stay in the NFL longer?
Pittsburgh – Aaron Rodgers had prepared himself for the exciting final act in cold Pittsburgh with a wool hat on the sidelines and after the coup he didn’t even know what happened to him. The aging star was celebrated by fellow players and fans following the Pittsburgh Steelers’ surprising and much-celebrated last-minute entry into the National Football League playoffs.
After all, the 42-year-old quarterback showed once again in the 26:24 win against the Baltimore Ravens that there is still magic in his right throwing arm. With 55 seconds left, Rodgers played the game-winning 26-yard pass to Calvin Austin for a touchdown. “They expect these kinds of plays from an old guy with gray hair in his beard. And it’s nice to deliver in moments like that,” said Rodgers.
But the late heroic act would have been worth nothing if Ravens kicker Tyler Loop hadn’t missed a field goal with two seconds left. Rodgers experienced the decisive scene on the sidelines. The Steelers will face the Houston Texans in the first knockout round next Monday (local time). For the four-time MVP, it is the first playoff appearance after three painful years.
Late luck in Pittsburgh
Rodgers’ glorious career seemed to come to an unspectacular end. After his heyday with the Green Bay Packers, with whom he won the Super Bowl in 2010, the last two seasons with the New York Jets were a disappointment. In 2023 he seriously injured his Achilles tendon in the first game and was out for the entire season. A year later, Rodgers only won five games with the Jets and clearly missed the playoffs. Finally, the old star tried his luck again with the Steelers, who have been waiting for a win in the playoff games since 2017.
This negative series should now end – with Rodgers. “That was our vision in the spring when we courted him. A man with a resume like that. He’s not only capable, he really thrives in situations like this,” praised head coach Mike Tomlin. Of all things, in the decisive game against the Ravens, Rodgers threw his season best of 294 yards.
Contract expires – what happens next?
Actually too good to stop. At least that was Rodgers’ plan. After signing a one-year contract in June, he announced that it was “pretty much certain” to be his last year. That sounds different now. “Whenever the season ends, I’ll be a free agent. That opens up a lot of opportunities for me if I want to keep playing,” Rodgers said recently, adding: “Well, maybe not many, but there will be some, I think. Maybe one or two.”
The man from California made it through the season largely injury-free. The fracture of his wrist on the left hand, which he doesn’t throw with, forced him out against Chicago, but otherwise wasn’t a major handicap. The quarterback recently joked that in a way he feels like the fictional film character Benjamin Button, who ages backwards. Rodgers threw 3,322 yards of passes this season and was involved in 24 touchdowns, which is a decent performance.
Pittsburgh wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who played with Rodgers in Green Bay for four years from 2018 to 2021, does not see the end of his colleague’s career yet. “He can play football until he’s 50. Definitely! Throw the ball? He’ll still be able to do that,” said the teammate, eleven years his junior.
Reputation polished again after Corona scandal
Rodgers is admired and revered again. That wasn’t always the case in the past. Especially after the corona vaccination thing in autumn 2021, when his reputation was seriously damaged. At that time it emerged that Rodgers had not been vaccinated at all, after he had claimed otherwise a few weeks earlier. In any case, the indignation was great.
This is no longer an issue in Pittsburgh. The veteran star is happy about what could be his last career step. “If I hadn’t taken this path, I would never have met so many guys in the dressing room that I now call close friends. I feel like there was a little gap missing in my life if I hadn’t experienced this chapter.” A chapter that continues in the playoffs – and possibly a little longer.
