“We all want the hand. Hand is tough to get. You gotta get the hand right from the opening.” This is a quote from the great Jerry Seinfeld in one of my favorite clips from his sitcom Seinfeld. “Hand” is their shorthand (and hilarious) way of talking about the upper hand in a relationship. One Pittsburgh Steelers beat writer thinks the long drawn out Aaron Rodgers saga could be a play to establish hand early on.
“I almost wonder how much is Aaron Rodgers also setting the tone for this relationship and kind of being like, if you want me, it’s gonna be on my terms,” The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo said via The Bettor Angle on The BetMGM Network. “I’m going to be doing things my way. I’m the quarterback. Not, I’m coming to the Pittsburgh Steelers doing what you tell me.”
Aaron Rodgers made things very clear on the Pat McAfee Show earlier in the offseason that the only timeline he is operating under to sign a potential contract is his own. While he mentioned personal issues with people in his inner circle, every public appearance since then has raised questions about what is really going on.
First it was a large gathering with his friends at the Kentucky Derby at the beginning of this month. Then it was his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience for a three-plus hour podcast. To wrap things up, he is appearing at rap shows with his friend Mike Stud and holding question and answer sessions where he seemingly taunted Steelers fans with his not-so-cryptic response about playing in Chicago for a road game this year.
The first week of OTAs came and went and still no contract with Rodgers. That leaves all of his would-be teammates to answer questions about him. Somehow the biggest topic of conversation at OTAs was about who is not there rather than the players that are there and working hard.
Pittsburgh has always been a team-first organization. They moved on from Troy Polamalu when they deemed it necessary, and of course Franco Harris ended up finishing his career elsewhere. It’s odd for them to show this kind of deference to a player that has never even been on the team before. Future Hall of Famer or not, it’s outside the norm for the Steelers.
According to team insider Mark Kaboly, he’s heard rumblings of Rodgers wanting to call his own plays. That is something he would only be able to do with hand in the relationship. If and when he ends up signing, he will have all the hand he needs with how long the Steelers have put things on pause to wait for him.
If his goal was to establish dominance, he has it. And the Steelers rolled over and allowed it.
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