For Aaron Rodgers to have success with the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, he’s going to have to integrate with his new teammates and coaching staff. That doesn’t only happen on the field, and Rodgers’ new head coach is helping him get comfortable with those in the organization.
Mike Tomlin recently hosted a gathering with Rodgers and some members of the Steelers’ coaching staff, according to Kelvin Reynolds of WBRC 6 News in Alabama.
Tomlin hired Archibald’s BBQ owner Woodrow Washington to cook for the event. Washington is a close friend of Steelers defensive line coach Karl Dunbar, as the two are fraternity brothers. According to Reynolds, Tomlin regularly eats at Washington’s restaurant when he attends University of Alabama Pro Days.
It appears that Rodgers was the only player at the cookout. Regardless, it’s good to see him integrating with the coaching staff. It’s also not surprising that Mike Tomlin wanted Rodgers there. Tomlin was reportedly the driving force behind Pittsburgh’s decision to sign Rodgers after a drawn-out process.
That respect seems to be a mutual one. The two have long had respect for each other. We even saw a glimpse of that during the Steelers win over the Jets in Pittsburgh last season. That involved the two sharing a head-nod after Tomlin called a timeout before Rodgers could catch the Steelers with too many men on the field.
The mutual respect between the two was prevalent this offseason as well. Throughout the past few months, Tomlin and the Steelers have been heavily criticized for waiting so long for Rodgers to make a decision. Rodgers spoke about personal issues affecting his delay. No matter what those may have turned out to be, Rodgers spoke about being grateful for the way Tomlin handled the whole situation.
Throughout that whole ordeal, plenty of people said plenty of negative things about Rodgers and the way he might affect the Steelers. So far, there doesn’t seem to be anything to worry about. His new teammates seem to appreciate the way he’s entering the locker room. For now, he’s failing to bring any of the entitlement so many expected from him. Rookie sixth-round pick Will Howard has mentioned, a few times now, how helpful Rodgers has already been to him.
Of course, it is only June. We’ll have to see how things hold up as the season progresses. Especially if there ends up being some rocky times during the year. For now, it seems like Aaron Rodgers’ introduction to the organization is going well.
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