EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers walked off the field a winner in his Pittsburgh Steelers debut. And a villain to the New York Jets fans who had cheered him during his failed two-year stint in the Big Apple.
After throwing four touchdown passes to help the Steelers win 34-32 on Sunday, Rodgers smiled as he shook hands with coach Mike Tomlin and new teammate Cam Heyward and then mockingly put his right hand up to his ear as the Jets fans jeered at him.
He wasn’t trying to hear any of that.
A smirking Rodgers kept walking until he spotted a large group of Steelers fans, waving their yellow “Terrible Towels,” and he raised his right fist to acknowledge them.
“It was nice to win, especially after hearing some of the catcalls,” Rodgers acknowledged after the game. “I’m not sensitive about that. I expected that.
“There were people in the (Jets) organization that didn’t think I could play anymore, so it was nice to remind those people that I still can.”
It’s tough to argue with him now.
While he doesn’t have the mobility he once did as a four-time NFL MVP while with the Packers during his 18 years in Green Bay, Rodgers still has an arm and instincts plenty good enough against a Jets team that gave him and the Steelers fits.
Rodgers downplayed the revenge angle all week, as did the Jets. But it was only natural he would be extra motivated to beat the team that released him in the offseason when new coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey decided to go in a different direction.
Rodgers publicly balked at the way the Jets, particularly Glenn, handled his departure in what he described as a lack of “ample respect” in their face-to-face meeting in February.
“I was happy to beat everybody associated with the Jets,” Rodgers said when asked if he was happy to beat Glenn. “I gave as much as I could to the team. I didn’t have any hard feelings about it not working out.
“I didn’t maybe appreciate the way it went down in the end, but that’s in the past. And we’re 1-and-0.”
Rodgers, who signed a one-year, $13.65 million contract with the Steelers, got things started quickly by throwing a TD pass on his first drive that came after he was greeted by a chorus of boos from Jets fans and was then sacked on the first play by Quinnen Williams.
But Rodgers then went to work on an efficient drive, capping it by finding a wide-open Ben Skowronek for a 22-yard touchdown to give Pittsburgh a 7-3 lead with 3:38 left in the opening quarter.
Rodgers jogged to the end zone with the rest of the Steelers players to celebrate the score — his first in black and gold.
With the Steelers trailing 19-10, Rodgers got his second TD pass of the game on Pittsburgh’s fourth series on a jet sweep toss to Jonnu Smith for a 3-yard score with 32 seconds left in the second quarter.
He threw two more TD passes in a 50-second span in the fourth quarter — a 5-yard pass to Jaylen Warren and, after the Steelers recovered a fumbled kickoff, a go-ahead 18-yard score to Calvin Austin III.
Rodgers finished 22 of 30 for 244 yards and the four scores.
During warmups two hours before kickoff, Rodgers — wearing a black cap and a black-and-gold Steelers hoodie — was greeted by several of his former teammates and got big hugs from Williams, running back Breece Hall, backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor and edge rusher Jermaine Johnson, among others.
Rodgers was the headliner in the season-opening matchup, and for good reason. After all, his trade to the Jets during the offseason in 2023 made them instant championship contenders and a constant topic of conversation.
But four snaps into his debut in New York — moments after he carried the American field onto the field in pregame introductions — Rodgers went down with a torn left Achilles tendon and the Jets’ Super Bowl dreams immediately fizzled.
Rodgers made it back last season and threw 28 touchdown passes with 3,897 yards passing — both rank third for a single season in franchise history. But he lacked some mobility early in his return and then dealt with a few additional leg injuries, including a significant hamstring ailment.
The Jets’ offense with Rodgers struggled to produce, the defense was a shell of its formerly dominant self and it cost both general manager Joe Douglas and coach Robert Saleh their jobs in the middle of a 5-12 season.
In what turned out to be his final appearance with New York, Rodgers threw a season-high four touchdown passes in a win over Miami on Jan. 5 at MetLife Stadium. He became the fifth player in NFL history to reach 500 regular-season touchdown passes.
In his very next game there, in a new uniform with a new team, he reached 507 — one behind Brett Favre for fourth all-time. And it came in a victory against familiar opponents.
“I love beating everybody,” Rodgers said. “It doesn’t matter who it is.”
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