Top NFL broadcaster Jim Nantz is rooting for Aaron Rodgers to ink with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Nantz, the top CBS NFL announcer alongside Tony Romo, is in line to call more than a few Steelers games this season. After the NFL schedule was revealed, Nantz jokingly pleaded with Rodgers to land with the Steelers to add more spice the games the network carries.
“We have a heavy Pittsburgh influence on our schedule,” Nantz said on NFL Network. “There’s a lot there to like about the Steelers, especially if they’re good. ... [So] I don’t know if you’re watching, Aaron Rodgers. I hope you are. But I want you to know ... [that] just a few of my colleagues and some friends, we wanna see you in the Steel City this season. We need the Steelers to be good, up to seven figures. They need you. I saw you play last year. ... I know you can still play. You get doubled-up with Mike Tomlin and T.J. Watt on that defense. I think it’d be a great thing. Let’s get this thing done. I’m just making a personal appeal: We want you, we need you, and we look forward to seeing you.”
Rodgers has yet to sign with the Steelers due to personal issues, he said on the Pat McAfee Show in April.
A biographer, Ian O’Connor, who has chronicled Rodgers’ life at length, says that he believes Rodgers’ personal issue will not prevent him from playing football, and he anticipates it being taken care of by the end of May.
O’Connor notes that Rodgers was irked he took heat last year for missing mandatory minicamp with the New York Jets for a pre-planned trip to Egypt. He might not want to ink his deal until after the spring calendar if he has something similar this year.
The Steelers have waited this long for Rodgers and seem to continue that as he resolves his issues. Pittsburgh and Rodgers remain in regular contact, and all signs seem to point to him signing.