No franchise has won more Super Bowl championships than the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that is starting to feel like an old page in the history books with over 16 years since their last win. They had one other opportunity to get a seventh Lombardi Trophy but fell short against the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV during the 2010 season. Like it or not, the quarterback who defeated them, Aaron Rodgers, may soon be leading the team for the 2025 season. One member of the 2010 Steelers team has mixed feelings about that possibility.
“If we can get Aaron Rodgers, this is me glass half full. I’m a total optimist right now because it’s easy to be negative about this situation,” Trai Essex said Monday via the Arthur Moats Experience podcast on YouTube. “A-Rod is the best one we got unfortunately and fortunately. Don’t get it twisted, he has a Hall of Fame resume and he is one of the GOATs. At the end of the day, he will go down as a top-three, top-five quarterback of all time. And so it does kind of pain me that he took away my opportunity to get a third Super Bowl when we played them in 2011. So that stings a little bit.”
The Steelers were 12-4 that season and had a lot of things going for them. Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for the first four games and they still managed to secure the AFC’s No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. The New York Jets took care of the dreaded New England Patriots in the divisional round and paved an easier path for the Steelers to make their third Super Bowl in six seasons.
The Packers were 10-6 that season and barely qualified as a Wild Card team. The Steelers had all of the recent Super Bowl experience and it seemed to many that the Steelers would be hoisting a record-breaking seventh Lombardi Trophy.
Aaron Rodgers had other plans with a stellar performance. He completed 24-of-39 passes for 304 yards and three TDs. He didn’t throw a single interception while Roethlisberger turned it over twice. Along with a key fumble by RB Rashard Mendenhall, it was enough to seal defeat for Pittsburgh.
It’s hard to believe that 15 seasons and four league MVPs later the Steelers have a good chance of being led by that same quarterback as he looks to close out his career on a high note.
Essex says the sting can be remedied if Rodgers has success in Pittsburgh.
“If he could come and take away somebody else’s Super Bowl with us, I’ll be okay with that,” Essex said.
Because Rodgers was in the opposite conference as the Steelers for much of his career, it never developed into a rivalry. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some fans who still hold a bit of a Super Bowl grudge to this day.
One Packers Hall of Famer has already gone on the record saying he believes the Steelers will win the Super Bowl with Rodgers in 2025. If he starts winning in Pittsburgh, all will be forgiven rather quickly.
