Aaron Rodgers immediately revealed after rejoining the Pittsburgh Steelers that he intends to retire after the upcoming NFL season, and there may have been a reason behind that.
In a recent appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero suggested that Rodgers put that out there as a message to his teammates. Rodgers wants to convey that his only focus is on winning, and they should get on board with that.
“Aaron Rodgers never says anything accidentally,” Pelissero said. “Everything that he says has a reason behind it. Which leads me to believe, it’s certainly possible this is Aaron Rodgers’ last year. … It makes sense for him to deliver this message right now.
“Aaron Rodgers has spoken many times in the past about the value of older players and when you’re going into a final year and you feel like this is it, you’ve got the motivation. For him, that’s certainly the way that he’s going into this. By saying this is it, this also puts the rest of that locker room on notice. I need everything out of all of you because this is it.”
Rodgers did, in fact, reveal his intentions right away in his initial press conference. It certainly makes sense if it was intended to set expectations, as he has never spoken this definitively about retirement before.
Rodgers started 16 games for the Steelers last season, throwing for 3,322 yards and 24 touchdowns. He turns 43 in December and has flirted with retirement on and off for four years now.
