Ladies and gentlemen, the game every Green Bay Packers fan had circled on their calendar has arrived.
In Week 8, the Packers will head east to face Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football. It should be a special night. The layers surrounding this matchup promise a rich narrative with compelling storylines, from Rodgers facing his former team to the broader implications for both franchises.
The Packers last won in Pittsburgh in 1970. To put that in perspective, Apollo 13 had just launched months earlier, and the Beatles had just released “Let It Be.” People celebrated Earth Day for the first time, and Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were dominating the music scene. The world has changed a lot since then, but one thing that has not changed is Aaron Rodgers’ feelings toward Green Bay’s organization since they traded him in 2023.
“I feel so good about my time there because damn near everything great in my life is because of my football career, and my football career starts and will end one day with Green Bay,” Rodgers said on Thursday while speaking with Green Bay’s media. “So I got a lot of love for all those memories.”
“This one would mean a lot more if it were in Lambeau, just because of the affection I have for that place,” he added, “and the hallowed ground of Lambeau Field, and all the amazing memories that I have there over the years.”
Aaron Rodgers on a Zoom with Packers media: “Feel so good about my time there because damn near everything great in my life is because of my football career, and my football career starts, and will end one day, with Green Bay. So got a lot of love for all those memories.” pic.twitter.com/3bgVe11h4z
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) October 23, 2025
The day before, Rodgers moved quickly to dismiss the idea that this week’s game is about revenge.
“I don’t have any animosity toward the organization,” Rodgers said while speaking with reporters. “Obviously, I wish that things had been better in our last year there, but I have a great relationship with a lot of people still in that organization, and this is not a revenge game for me. I’m just excited to see some of those guys and be on ‘Sunday Night Football’ again.”
Aaron Rodgers says he doesn’t view Sunday against the Packers as a “revenge game.”
“There’s no animosity toward the organization. Obviously I wish things had been better in our last year there.”
Rodgers said he saw the “writing on the wall” when the org drafted Jordan Love. pic.twitter.com/yRGBfxI6qo
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) October 22, 2025
With a win on Sunday, Rodgers would join Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees as the only quarterbacks to have beaten every NFL team. Sure, Rodgers can and will say all the right things with a camera in his face, but let’s not pretend we won’t see his petty competitiveness. That edge – what some call petulance – is what has made him a future Hall of Famer.
He wants to show Green Bay that he still has it. This is the same guy who drank a purple soda during a post-game press conference after beating the Minnesota Vikings, so expect him to bring that energy.
“He looks like he can still do anything!” Matt LaFleur said on Wednesday.
“What’s surprising, for such an old man, he’s still moving around pretty good too,” LaFleur said with a smile on Wednesday. “You’ve seen it in multiple games.”
“The arm strength is still plenty there,” LaFleur added. “You see it, especially on the Hail Mary. I don’t know many guys that can throw the ball 70 yards in the air. It’s still pretty impressive what he can do. He can throw with pinpoint accuracy…this guy is extremely accurate. If you give him just a sliver of light, he can fit the ball in there.”
For Green Bay, this is a chance to show Rodgers that, even after a turbulent end to their relationship, they believe they made the right choice in handing the keys to the kingdom to Jordan Love, who spent three seasons sitting behind him. Yet, he is his own man and is not trying to follow in Rodgers’ footsteps.
As Love gets ready to take on Rodgers and the Steelers on Sunday Night Football in Pittsburgh, he took time after Wednesday’s practice to think back on their three years together and how Rodgers’ mentorship has shaped him into a quarterback capable of making his own mark.
“He’s one of those guys that breaks all the rules,” Love said. “But at the same time, it was cool for me to see some of that stuff.
“You’re taught your whole life how to play the quarterback position a certain way, and you see a guy kind of break some of those rules and make some of these passes. … Obviously, some of it is just him being a freak, being able to do stuff other people can’t, very talented. But I think in the back of your head it makes you be like, ‘Man, I want to try some of this stuff.'”
Love received a much warmer welcome from Rodgers than No. 12 did when he arrived with Favre, and that support played a big role in shaping the quarterback he is today. Rodgers’ selflessness was a leadership trait on full display, and he deserves recognition for the work he put into making Love’s transition to the team as smooth as possible. Rodgers invited Love to team gatherings and gave him a voice during film sessions. Now, No. 10 gets to face his former mentor.
This will be a showdown that Packers fans will be talking about for years to come. For Green Bay, it’s an opportunity to go on the road in primetime and beat a quality team in a tough environment. They’ll need to play complementary football through all four quarters. It’s time for them to deliver a statement win, something they arguably haven’t done since Week 1 against the Detroit Lions.