A few weeks ago on his “Footbahlin” podcast, former Pittsburgh Steelers great and future Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger spoke highly of Aaron Rodgers, stating the Steelers would become a different team with Rodgers, should he sign with them.
The hold-up in Rodgers signing, Roethlisberger speculated, was that he believed Rodgers was waiting for the Minnesota Vikings and head coach Kevin O’Connell to show more interest in him.
But during an appearance Thursday on The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers countered Roethlisberger’s suggestion.
“There’s been a lot of narratives that have not been anywhere near accurate, starting with the Jets, continuing with something I just read about me pitching something to the Vikings. I know Ben [Roethlisberger], I only know this again ’cause of Mia [Rodgers’ sister]. I know Ben was on the show talking about me waiting around for the Vikings. That’s not accurate either,” Rodgers said, according to video via the Show’s YouTube page.
Throughout the offseason since the Rodgers-Steelers stuff started to really heat up, talk of the Vikings and a possible fit there with Rodgers has always been lingering, especially with Minnesota set to turn the starting job over to second-year QB JJ McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie season.
During that April 1 podcast episode of “Footbahlin” Roethlisberer had this to say about Rodgers and why he hasn’t signed yet.
“I just think he thinks that Minnesota is a more complete, closer team to win a Super Bowl, and he might not be wrong,” Roethlisberger said.
Rodgers dispelled that Friday during his appearance on McAfee, and even downplayed the conversations with O’Connell, citing the friendship they’ve had for nearly 20 years, going way back in their time growing up in California.
“I know there’s, I’m sure some, a lot of sentiment from both Packers fans, and even maybe Vikings fans about certain things,” Rodgers said. “But no, I’ve known Kevin forever. I’ve known Kevin O’Connell since we used to work out at Fitness Quest Ten, I think it was called, uh, in San Diego County in North County.
“I’ve known him for 17, 18 years. And we got a good friendship. So we talk outside of just this off season. We keep in touch during the season. So we’ve had good communication.”
The Vikings are a better team than the Steelers right now, even with the question at quarterback with McCarthy. They have a better defense, which a great deal of money was spent beefing up in free agency. The offense is loaded with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones and T.J. Hockenson at the play-making positions, and the coaching staff is quite good with O’Connell and defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Things are really looking up for Minnesota, which is why the speculation has been there regarding Rodgers and a fit there, compared to the Steelers, who seem to have more questions than answers on their roster.
But as far as Rodgers seemingly waiting around to make a decision because he wants something to open up like Minnesota, he shot that down pretty good Thursday.
