Terry Bradshaw made some waves when he chastised the Pittsburgh Steelers for waiting around all offseason for Aaron Rodgers. He called their decision to pursue Rodgers a “joke” and told the four-time NFL MVP to go chew on bark somewhere.
It turns out Rodgers was listening but isn’t taking those remarks too personally. He even offered Bradshaw to join him in the bark chewing.
“I whisper to the gods every single day,” Rodgers joked via NFL Network in direct response to what Bradshaw said. “I’ve known Terry for a long time being a part of FOX. Terry’s a legend. He’s an absolute legend. He won four Super Bowls. He’s had a legendary career in the media. But Terry, like a lot of people, doesn’t know me. And so he’s got an idea of what he thinks about me based on what I’ve done.
“I’d love to get to know Terry on a deeper level. And I feel like if he gave me a chance to get to know him, we’d have a good friendship. Because for me I have nothing but the utmost respect and deference for what the greats have done. So I’d love to get to know Terry on a deeper level if he’s open to it, and maybe we can go chew some bark, or whatever the hell he’s talking about, together.”
This had the potential to be a touchy subject among Steelers fans. Bradshaw is a legend of the city who brought home four Super Bowl championships. And even though Rodgers is the current quarterback, many fans were wary about him coming to Pittsburgh in the first place. He handled this situation with nothing but grace. The Steelers probably couldn’t have scripted a better response.
One narrative that you hear a lot with Rodgers is that he’s a bad teammate. But every credible anecdote or report shows quite the opposite. From QB Will Howard to RB Evan Hull and many others, his current teammates have expressed how impressed they are by Rodgers. Hull doesn’t have any shot at starting for the Steelers, but that didn’t stop Rodgers from learning not only his name but several things about him before they ever met.
After he signed with Pittsburgh, he told the team that he was all-in from that point forward. And he has kept that promise with a reported meeting with Arthur Smith to fine tune the offense, a 90-day workout program at Proactive Sports Performance, and a get-together with a handful of teammates in Malibu.
There is no disputing that Rodgers has some interesting opinions about the way the world works. And others didn’t want him in Pittsburgh for legitimate football reasons at 41 years old. But he continues to impress as a teammate and leader in the locker room. He could just as easily have given it right back to Bradshaw, but he chose not to.
That’s a win.
