The Pittsburgh Steelers opened the season against the New York Jets. Before facing his former team, Aaron Rodgers didn’t make a big deal out of the affair. However, after the Steelers’ 34-32 win, he let everyone know how happy he was to beat the Jets. This week, he’s set to face his other former team in the Green Bay Packers. While Rodgers once again isn’t talking about this as a revenge game, James Harrison believes the veteran quarterback actually feels differently.
“I haven’t talked to Aaron,” Harrison said Friday on his Deebo and Joe podcast. “But in my heart of hearts, I think he 150,000 percent wants to beat the dog snot out of them boys. He wants to go out there, he wants to win, and he wants to outperform the other quarterback in numbers, in yards, touchdowns, whatever that is. One hundred percent, he wants to do all of that.”
It’s hard to say whether or not Rodgers feels as strongly about playing the Packers as he did the Jets. His time with both teams was very different.
Rodgers spent the first 18 years of his career with the Packers. There, he blossomed into a Hall of Fame quarterback, winning a Super Bowl and four NFL MVP awards. However, in 2020, the Packers spent a first-round pick on Jordan Love, signaling that Rodgers’ time with them was coming to an end.
That decision frustrated Rodgers, and ultimately, he was traded to the Jets in 2023. That stint may have given Rodgers more of an appreciation for Green Bay because his time in New York was a mess. He tore his Achilles in his first season with them. Last year, Rodgers played well, but the Jets were a dysfunctional disaster.
Rodgers’ departure from the Jets was messy, too. He understood that they could’ve moved on from him, but he didn’t appreciate the manner in which they did it.
Now, Rodgers talks about his time with the Packers fondly. He even said that he wants to officially retire with them one day.
That doesn’t mean Rodgers doesn’t want to play well this week. While he has love for the Packers, he could still want to show them that they should’ve never moved on from him. He probably would’ve loved to have spent his whole career in Green Bay. Now, he has a chance to prove a point to them. He can love them and still want to beat them.
