While they’ve lacked playoff success in recent years, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still one of the most accomplished NFL franchises. They have six Super Bowl victories to their name, tied for the most by one team. They’ve been hunting for No. 7 for a while now, though. However, that history of success is something players respect, at least according to Aaron Rodgers.
“You’ve gotta say, there’s a few cornerstone teams in the NFL, and I was fortunate to play for one of them for 18 years,” Rodgers said Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show. “And now I’m fortunate enough to be back on one of them. There’s only a few of them, they’re the core teams. I’m not dissing those other teams.
“It’s just there’s a history of excellence in Green Bay, starting in the ’20s, and the run in the ’60s. The stuff that we accomplished, there’s 13 NFL championships there. Pittsburgh had a run in the ’70s with four championships, and then Ben [Roethlisberger] got two. They’ve got six Super Bowls. There’s a history of excellence that comes with a team like this.”
The Green Bay Packers might be one of the few teams with a more storied history than the Steelers. They were one of the first NFL teams, and they define a history of excellence in the league. While they only have four Super Bowl titles, they were dominant before that era began.
Rodgers spent most of his Hall of Fame career there, and now he appreciates getting to play with another flagship franchise in the Steelers. While the Steelers didn’t have much success before the Super Bowl era, since the 1970s, they’ve been a model of consistency. Chuck Noll ushered in a dynasty, leading Pittsburgh to four Super Bowl wins from 1974-79.
They had some down years after that, most notably in the 1980s, but then Bill Cowher brought them back to the promised land. While he failed to win in his first Super Bowl appearance with the Steelers, he eventually helped them capture their fifth championship.
Then, Mike Tomlin came along, and it didn’t take him long to bring a sixth championship to Pittsburgh. Ironically enough, he would’ve brought them their seventh, too, if it wasn’t for Rodgers and the Packers. They defeated the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, Pittsburgh’s last appearance in the big game.
Now, Rodgers has a chance to add to the Steelers’ history of excellence. While they might not be Super Bowl contenders, he could help them snap their playoff win drought. Anything can happen in the postseason, too. The Steelers might be in the middle of a slight retooling phase, but their strong history still helps define them. To Rodgers, it sounds like that matters a lot.
