During his two-year detour with the Jets, quarterback Aaron Rodgers had plenty to say about the culture of the organization. On Thursday, he had something else to say about his most recent former team.
The comment was made while Rodgers was expressing appreciation for the leadership provided in Pittsburgh by coach Mike Tomlin.
“One thing I really love — and it’s kind of the antithesis of where I was — is there’s not really any leaks in the boat,” Rodgers told reporters. “Every year, you have difficulties and adversity, both on the field and off the field, and to go through a season like this, and to be able to focus on football and not have a lot of other little bullshit out there has been really nice.”
The “other little bullshit” wasn’t quite so little, as Rodgers saw it, in New York.
In December 2023, Rodgers (who was rehabbing his torn Achilles tendon at the time) sounded off on leaks that quarterback Zach Wilson was reluctant to resume playing after being benched during Rodgers’s absence.
“What is your impetus, what is your motivation to try and bury someone like that?” Rodgers told Pat McAfee. “And that’s a problem with the organization. You know, we need to get to the bottom of whatever this is coming from and put a stop to it privately, because there’s no place in a winning culture where — and this is not the only time. There’s been a bunch of other leaks.”
Added Rodgers at the time: “I think it’s chickenshit at its core, and I think it has no place in a winning organization.”
But the Jets aren’t a winning organization. For various reasons. Most of which trace to the very top of the pyramid.
The success in Pittsburgh has been about more than the absence of leaks. Rodgers himself has wisely avoided contributing to the “other little bullshit” by not appearing on McAfee’s show every Tuesday. Rodgers often got way too comfortable in that setting, saying things that became fodder for scrutiny and more reporting.
With the Steelers, Rodgers has kept his media appearances to the minimum. He has chosen to focus on football, fulfilling his weekly obligations to speak with reporters and nothing more.
The results speak for themselves, thanks in part to a missed 44-yard field goal that would have kept Rodgers and the Steelers out of the playoffs.
Regardless, they rebounded nicely from an embarrassing 26-7 home loss to the Bills. They’re back in the playoffs. And they have a chance to notch their first postseason win since January 2017.
At the time, none of the other 13 playoff coaches were coaching their current teams. (Sean McVay had been hired by the Rams three days earlier, and Kyle Shanahan would be hired by the 49ers three days later.) Only one of the other 2025 playoff quarterbacks was in the NFL (Matthew Stafford, with the Lions).
Now, the coach and the quarterback who were on the opposing sidelines in Super Bowl XLV will join forces in an effort to win their second career Lombardi Trophies. Can they pull it off?
Crazier things have happened. Especially since there’s a non-zero chance that Pittsburgh’s Flex Sealed boat is floating in an ocean of holy water.
