The Pittsburgh Steelers’ signing of quarterback Aaron Rodgers was an instantly polarizing transfer that didn’t sit nicely with massive parts of the fan base. It additionally didn’t sit nicely with one of many group’s all-time biggest gamers, four-time Tremendous Bowl successful quarterback Terry Bradshaw.
Bradshaw initially referred to the signing of Rodgers as a “joke” and that he ought to “keep in California and go chew bark” in reference to Rodgers isolating himself in a darkness retreat final yr.
On Saturday, Rodgers lastly had an opportunity to reply to Bradshaw and did so with a mix of taking the excessive highway, and in addition attempting to make gentle of it.
“I whisper to the gods each single day. I’ve identified Terry for a very long time, being part of Fox. Terry’s a legend. He’s an absolute legend. He gained 4 Tremendous Bowls. He’s had a legendary profession within the media. However Terry, like lots of people, doesn’t know me. And so, he’s obtained an concept of what he thinks about me primarily based on what I’ve executed, the documentary, what I’ve mentioned, darkness retreat, regardless of the hell you wish to speak about. I’d like to get to know Terry on a deeper stage. I really feel like if he gave me an opportunity to get to know him, then we’d have a superb friendship.”
He ended the reply by saying, “So, I’d like to get to know Terry on a deeper stage if he’s open to it. And possibly we are able to go chew some bark or regardless of the hell he’s speaking about collectively.”
The Steelers had been in a reasonably determined quarterback scenario this offseason after utterly overhauling the place for a second yr in a row. They missed out on the possibility to re-sign Justin Fields, let Russell Wilson stroll, missed out on each different veteran who modified groups and handed on the chance to pick out a quarterback close to the highest of a weak quarterback draft class. (They finally chosen Ohio State’s Will Howard within the sixth spherical.)
The entire Rodgers saga has been fairly a cleaning soap opera for the Steelers as they waited round for months whereas he selected whether or not or not he wished to play this season, and if he wished to play for the Steelers. Add within the truth he has had a bent to trigger some off-field distractions along with his feedback and weekly “Pat McAfee Present” appearances, in addition to the very fact he’ll flip 42 years previous this season and hasn’t been a top-tier quarterback in three years, and plenty of Steelers followers — and former gamers — had been postpone by the concept.
The one factor that may matter ultimately, nevertheless, is how Rodgers performs on the sector. He has mentioned all the proper issues since becoming a member of the group, and his new teammates have all spoken extremely of him to this point, however it should nonetheless come right down to outcomes on the sector.
The Steelers haven’t gained a playoff recreation in eight years and are going through added strain annually to finish that drought. They’re hoping Rodgers has yet one more good yr in him to assist them advance within the postseason.
