Aaron Rodgers dealt with the sting of his former team drafting his replacement in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He gave the team grief for that decision, but still managed to have a decent relationship with Jordan Love by the time he was traded to the New York Jets in 2023. Now the two of them will get a chance to square off against each other in Week 8 when the Green Bay Packers come to face the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.
Love reacted to the news of Rodgers officially signing with the Steelers via ESPN Milwaukee’s Wilde & Tausch.
“I was excited. I don’t think I was too surprised,” Love said after a long offseason of rumors. “I was excited for him that he was obviously coming back and be playing. There was also rumors he might be done, so just knowing he’s gonna keep playing, that’s pretty awesome.”
When Rodgers entered the league in 2005, Brett Favre was the longtime quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. Favre and Rodgers had a rocky relationship in comparison to what Love experienced. Most of Rodgers’ animosity was towards the Packers and not his eventual replacement. Love appreciated his time with Rodgers.
“I appreciate definitely the way Rodgers handled being in that situation,” Love said. “And I think a big part of it, which he told me was he knows how it was for him being in the same position and things that he went through and just the way the situation might’ve been handled. And I think his perspective was I’m trying to go about this a little bit differently, which I think was awesome.”
Rodgers’ longtime QB coach and OC Tom Clements discussed how Rodgers was always a great teammate and mentor to the young quarterbacks on the Packers roster. The media tried to drive a wedge between the two because of Rodgers’ offseason holdouts in his final years there, but they really did have a decent relationship.
Now they will get a chance to play each other in prime time while the entire nation watches. Love was asked what it will be like to be on the same field as Rodgers once again on October 26th.
“It’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be awesome. I’m excited for it,” Love said. “I can’t wait to be on different sides meeting up. I know we’ll talk pregame, things like that. And then hopefully we can exchange jerseys after.”
If Rodgers manages to defeat his former team, he will join an exclusive club of NFL quarterbacks that have defeated all 32 teams in the league. Having a chance to do so against the quarterback that replaced him and the head coach that helped make it happen is the perfect backdrop to make history.
It was a layup for the NFL schedule makers, but they nailed it by putting this one in primetime as one of the most anticipated matchups of the 2025 season.
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