Now that he’s with the Pittsburgh Steelers and finds himself back in a stable environment with a well-established head coach and an offensive coordinator he respects and has comfort with, the belief is that Aaron Rodgers is going to find success.
In Pittsburgh, all Rodgers has to do is focus on playing quarterback. That should set him up for success and allow him to play freely without any additional burdens of being a starting QB in the NFL.
At least, that’s how former Super Bowl-winning QB Joe Theismann sees things with Rodgers and the Steelers.
“He doesn’t have to be assistant general manager. He doesn’t have to worry about personnel. The only thing he needs to worry about is being able to run this offense, nothing else,” Theismann said to FOX News’ Ryan Gaydos ahead of the American Century Classic at Lake Tahoe. “So, from my perspective, I think it takes a burden off him to be honest with you.
“And instead of trying to make a team better, just be part of a team and do your part to make it better.”
After 18 years with the Green Bay Packers, where he was well established as one of the guys, one who had a say in some things from a roster perspective and a playbook aspect, he was traded to the New York Jets and was immediately anointed the savior of the moribund franchise.
The Jets gave him a lot of power and say, basically allowing him to push for some of his former Packers teammates to come to New York, like Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard, and more, not to mention former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, too.
As is well known, things went very poorly in New York for Rodgers. He tore his Achilles four plays into his first season there, and then last season went 5-12 and saw coaches fired, players traded, and things be quite dysfunctional, leading to his release in the offseason as the Jets cleaned house.
Now, he’s in Pittsburgh where he doesn’t have to be the savior. He just has to play football and be one of the guys, rather than the guy. The Steelers are consistently competitive and have a great deal of stability with Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan and more.
That should free Rodgers up to just focus on football. He’ll still likely do plenty of appearances on podcasts and will have his weekly session with the media that will generate plenty of attention, but he’s no longer in the New York market and is on a team filled with star players who will help take some of the attention and pressure off him.
That can only be a good thing for Rodgers entering his age-41 season.
If he can just play football and focus on being one of the guys, it should lead to plenty of success in 2025 for not only Rodgers but the Steelers as well.
