Aaron Rodgers may be suiting up for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season, but when his storied NFL career comes to an end, he intends to finish it where it began: with the Green Bay Packers.
In a candid conversation with reporters ahead of his first-ever game against the Packers, Rodgers confirmed that he wants his eventual retirement to be as a member of the Green Bay organization. Having spent 18 years with the franchise, Rodgers made clear that the bulk of his identity as a player is inseparably tied to his time in Wisconsin.
“There’s nothing to avenge,” Rodgers told Packers beat reporters on Thursday. “They made me a ton of money, and I had some of the best years of my life there.”
While his departure from Green Bay in 2022 and subsequent stints with the Jets and now the Steelers might have suggested a fracturing of ties, Rodgers’ words reflected warmth and gratitude. Not only did he dismiss the idea of this being a “revenge game,” he described his Packers tenure as foundational to everything meaningful in his life.
The Packers appear poised to welcome him back with open arms, likely following the precedent set by Rodgers’ predecessor Brett Favre. Favre was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2015, a year before entering Canton, and saw his iconic No. 4 jersey retired. A similar fate likely awaits Rodgers, whose No. 12 remains deeply embedded in Lambeau Field lore.
Sunday’s Steelers-Packers clash will be Rodgers’ first time lining up against the team that drafted him in 2005. While he noted it would have felt more special at Lambeau, Rodgers remained visibly moved by the occasion.
Though he now leads a different offense, Rodgers made one thing clear: whenever the time comes to walk away from the game, he’ll do so wearing green and gold, not just in spirit, but in ceremony.