There was a little extra drama added to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 1 game because they were facing Aaron Rodgers’ former team. While Rodgers downplayed the matchup going into it, after winning, he made it clear that he was happy to beat the New York Jets.
This week the Steelers again have a revenge game involving one of their most prominent players. DK Metcalf will face his old team in the Seattle Seahawks Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. And much like Rodgers, he’s treating this like just another game, according to Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
It’s not surprising to see that Metcalf is downplaying facing his old team. He likely doesn’t want to give them any bulletin board material. Also, his departure from Seattle seemed like it carried less bad blood than Rodgers’ situation with the Jets. Metcalf wanted a big contract extension, and the Seahawks didn’t want to give it to him. Therefore, they moved him to the Steelers.
Both sides got something out of the trade. Metcalf got his extension, and the Seahawks got a second-round pick. He played for them from 2019-2024, being one of their most exciting players during that time, but now, they’re on opposite sides.
Even though he’s acting nonchalant, this game still has to hold some extra significance for Metcalf. Almost any time a player faces their former team, it adds extra emotions. However, this is an example of Metcalf exercising good character, not stirring up any drama going into the game.
That lines up with how Rodgers described Metcalf on Wednesday.
“He cares about it,” Rodgers said via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor on Twitter. “He cares about it enough to watch the film and to put in the time and take notes and ask questions and come over and sit next to me during the week at various times to try and get on the same page. I love it.
“That’s unfortunately not the standard around the league that I’ve been accustomed to. There’s a way of going about it. But when you’re lead dog in the room, he is also a great guy and prepares the right way. It makes it easy for the rest of the room to just follow his lead.”
Metcalf is still fairly new to the Steelers, but he’s quickly established himself in their locker room. Rodgers isn’t the first one to talk about Metcalf’s abilities as a leader.
In Week 1, Rodgers put together an impressive performance against his former team. Maybe Metcalf will do similar things this week. Even though he’s acting like this is just another game, he’d no doubt be happy to play well and walk away with the win.
