When Aaron Rodgers signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he made it clear that he’s totally committed to them. That came after a protracted wait for Rodgers to make a decision on his future. That might have soured some Steelers fans on Rodgers. However, since joining the team, he’s been true to his word. Rodgers has worked toward forming a connection with his new teammates, including working out with them near his home in Malibu. Former NFL head coach Eric Mangini isn’t a fan of Rodgers hosting that workout, though.
“I don’t know if it’s me being cynical, but you had a lot of time to make a decision to become a Pittsburgh Steeler,” Mangini said recently on FS1’s First Things First. “You could’ve come in a little bit earlier, you could’ve gone to a few OTAs. You could’ve gotten a much more thorough understanding of the system so that this becomes that much more impactful.
“And didn’t he talk about how he’s trying to stay away from the media and keep things private? Then you have this, and you’re the one that posted on Instagram? It just seems a little bit disingenuous.”
It’s fair to criticize Rodgers for waiting so long to join the Steelers. That was a divisive talking point throughout this offseason. However, it’s not like Rodgers was delaying his decision for no reason. Earlier in the offseason, he explained that he was dealing with personal issues that required most of his attention.
For what it’s worth, multiple Steelers have expressed how devoted Rodgers seems to be to football since he signed with Pittsburgh. Rodgers inviting his teammates to work out with him backs that up. He’s trying to make up for that lost time.
There’s no changing what’s already done. Rodgers can’t go back in time and attend OTAs. All he can do is make the best use of the time that players have before training camp begins. Wouldn’t it be worse if he wasn’t working out with his new pass catchers? There are a lot of valid reasons to criticize Rodgers, but this probably isn’t one of them.
Rodgers is a controversial figure, so most of his actions get put under a microscope. That usually puts him in a lose-lose situation. Here, he’s receiving criticism for working out with his teammates, but the noise probably would’ve been just as loud if he hadn’t hosted this workout. What matters is that Steelers players think Rodgers is being genuine. They said he’s all in, and so far, he hasn’t contradicted that.
