Fifteen years after Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl together, the quarterback and coach could reunite in Pittsburgh.
Their reunion became an option once the Steelers decided Saturday to hire McCarthy as head coach, drawing speculation that the 42-year-old Rodgers might return for another season. But Steelers president Art Rooney II said they didn’t choose McCarthy with Rodgers in mind.
“We don’t know what Aaron’s plans are right now, and that did not weigh heavily in the decision,” Rooney said in an interview with Steelers.com. “We’ll see where Aaron is, and we’ve left the door open but, obviously, we all have to sit down and see if that makes sense. So that’ll happen sometime in the next month or so.”
A future hall of famer, Rodgers indicated that this past season was likely his last after signing a one-year deal with the Steelers in June. But Rodgers’ stance on retirement seemed to soften as he and the team played well in stretches late into the year.
Rodgers passed for 3,322 yards and 24 touchdowns while leading the Steelers to the AFC North division title.
But key questions remain.
Does Rodgers want to keep playing? How is the relationship between Rodgers and McCarthy nowadays? And is bringing Rodgers back in the Steelers’ best interest?
The two unquestionably had great years together in Green Bay. Their best was a 2010 season that ended with a Super Bowl win. Rodgers, the game’s MVP, tossed three touchdowns in a 31-25 victory over the Steelers.
The championship remains their career highlight as neither Rodgers nor McCarthy has reached a Super Bowl since.
McCarthy coached the Packers for 13 seasons and had Rodgers as his starting quarterback for 11. Rodgers earned seven Pro Bowl nods under McCarthy, led the league in touchdown passes once (40 in 2016) and twice was voted the league’s MVP in that span.
He compiled nearly two-thirds of his 66,276 career passing yards with McCarthy as coach. They were a successful tandem, and Rodgers was emotional when the Packers fired McCarthy in 2018 after a 4-7-1 start.
“We accomplished a lot of things together,” Rodgers said at the time, according to Packers.com. “I have a lot of great memories to talk about down the line.”
Rodgers and McCarthy had gathered that season to talk on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
“I really always appreciated that time with Mike getting to know him on a personal level,” Rodgers added. “As much as what was made, the conjecture about (our) relationship, it was always built on mutual respect and communication.”
But their relationship was complicated, possibly strained in advance by a draft decision years earlier when McCarthy was still offensive coordinator in San Francisco. The 49ers selected Alex Smith with the first overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, while Rodgers, the second quarterback taken, slid to the Packers at 24.
Rodgers was a Northern California kid who idolized Joe Montana and played college football at Cal. But his hometown team passed him over in the draft, with McCarthy supposedly favoring Smith.
McCarthy recalled that decision during a 2011 news conference with the Packers.
“There was a number of things that you definitely liked about both young quarterbacks,” McCarthy said. “And I like to emphasize young. They both had a lot in front of them. There was definitely a lot of projection. But I’ve said it time and time again, just for Aaron Rodgers to be considered for the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft speaks volumes about him as an individual and what we thought about him athletically. Fortunately for the Green Bay Packers he was available at 24, and I’m glad I have the opportunity to work with him and watch him develop into a championship-caliber quarterback.
“But Aaron’s always had the physical ability, definitely has the mental capacity to operate a very high-level offense, which he does very effectively for us. And I think he’s improved in his in-the-pocket, out-of-pocket ability to transition and make plays with his feet. There’s a lot that goes into those decisions, and we are here today because Aaron Rodgers is in Green Bay.”
There were subsequent reports about their complicated coach-quarterback dynamic, including a lengthy piece by Bleacher Report that chronicled their deteriorating relationship after McCarthy was fired. The 2019 article’s most inflammatory assertion was that Rodgers thought McCarthy had a “low football IQ,” according to an anonymous source.
Rodgers blasted the article as a “smear attack” and insisted statements presented as fact were “just outright lies,” according to NFL.com.
He also defended McCarthy.
“We had a hell of a run,” said Rodgers, adding that he wouldn’t have re-signed with the Packers if he’d had problems with McCarthy. “We had 13 years, four NFC championships, one Super Bowl, eight straight playoffs, 19 straight wins. So, instead of trashing this guy on the way out, let’s remember the amazing times that we had together.”
McCarthy also disputed the Bleacher Report article, calling the reporting “utterly absurd.” Among the claims McCarthy disputed were allegations he missed meetings for massages in his office.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start and stop with the article,” McCarthy told NFL Network in 2019. “But to say that I skipped a team meeting for a massage is utterly absurd.”
More recently, Rodgers came to McCarthy’s defense in 2024 when the coach faced criticism in his final season with the Dallas Cowboys.
“I love Mike. Mike is Pittsburgh tough through and through,” Rodgers said on The Pat McAfee Show. “Thirteen incredible years together. I ain’t got much to say besides that. Mike is my boy.”