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08/12 13:35 CDT Steelers' Aaron Rodgers wishes Thursday's preseason game with
Packers could take place in Green Bay
Steelers' Aaron Rodgers wishes Thursday's preseason game with Packers could
take place in Green Bay
By STEVE MEGARGEE
AP Sports Writer
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has one regret about starting his
final NFL season with an exhibition game against the team that drafted him.
He would have preferred Thursday's matchup with the Packers take place in Green
Bay rather than Pittsburgh. Rodgers wanted to have one final moment in the
place where he spent his first 18 seasons and won four MVP awards and a Super
Bowl.
"I was really hoping this one was going to be in Green Bay, not just to get
back at Lambeau one more time, but to head out to Chives for a dinner and maybe
head out to Green Bay Country Club for a quick nine or something," Rodgers said
Wednesday in a Zoom session with Packers reporters. "I was really hoping it was
going to be in Green Bay, for a lot of reasons."
This will be the second time Rodgers has faced his former team since leaving
the Packers in 2023, though there's no indication yet on whether he will play
Thursday. Both games were in Pittsburgh, so Rodgers will head into retirement
after this season having never played against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
"It would have been strange, being in that locker room and stuff," Rodgers
said. "But I would have found my way over, like many former players have over
the years, found my way over to Flea's (Packers head athletic trainer Bryan
Engel's) office and hang out back there and see some of the guys and see some
of the trainers and equipment staff and all the people I really care about that
still work there.
"Yeah, I was definitely bummed out that we weren't in Lambeau for this one."
Rodgers' Steelers lost 35-25 to the Packers last October. Jordan Love, the
quarterback Green Bay selected in the first round of the 2020 draft to become
Rodgers' eventual successor, threw for 360 yards and three touchdowns that
night.
When he was asked what he missed the most about Wisconsin aside from football
and the fans, Rodgers talked about the house he owned during his Packers years,
the meals he enjoyed at Chives and the rounds of golf he played. Then he turned
the subject back toward football.
"The falls there are just awesome, when the weather gets that cool little nip,"
Rodgers said. "I loved the night games at Lambeau, especially the Sunday
nights, Monday nights and occasional Thursday nights. Just so much fun. There's
nothing like that crowd. I've been other places, I knew that when I was in
Green Bay, but there's nothing like that fan base and the way they travel and
the crowds at home.
"Players around the league, they talk about how special it is to play at
Lambeau, and sometimes you might miss that or forget about that when you're
playing because it becomes so normal to have such an amazing crowd and they're
tailgating and they're loud and they rarely sell their tickets to other teams'
fans. There's a lot of great things about Wisconsin. I grew up there, really,
and became a little more mature as an adult over the years there and had a
great time and still have a lot of close friends there, a lot of fond memories."
Rodgers did play his other former team as a visiting player last season when he
made his Steelers debut and led Pittsburgh to a 34-32 victory over the New York
Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Rodgers was with the Jets from 2023-24
after they acquired him from Green Bay, though he missed virtually all of 2023
after tearing his Achilles tendon in the season opener.
The Steelers host the Jets on Aug. 21 in their second preseason game.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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