To paraphrase our 38th President and Michigan Wolverine standout O-lineman, Jerry Ford, Pittsburgh's long national nightmare came to an end over this last weekend when future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers signed a one year deal to be the QB of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The media frenzy that this dance has generated over the last three months will reach its zenith later this afternoon as the Steelers open their mandatory mini-camp and Rodgers puts on a Steelers helmet for the first time. I heard on the radio at 8:00 this morning that ESPN was already camped outside ot Steelers HQ on the South Side to get a glimpse, and possibly hear from, Rodgers himself sometime aroung 1:00 this afternoon.
Perhaps the best analysis from any local media person was THIS COLUMN by the Post-Gazette's Paul Ziese from June 5. It says it better than I can.
As I see it, I had little or, at least, very low expectations for the Steelers season in 2025. Now those expectations have risen a bit. Rodgers, even a Rodgers diminished from his four time MVP prime, gives the Steelers a much better chance to compete in the ACC North, make the Playoffs, and possibly win a Playoff game for the first time inine years. (Oh, how our expectations have diminished over the last few years!)
Of course, it is also not beyond the realm of possibility that Rodgers' 41 years will have caught up with him and he will play football in the NFL in 2025 as a washed up 41 year old man, in which case, the reigns get turned over to Mason Rudolph, the Steelers end up with a mediocre to lousy season, and we then anxiously see what quarterback the Steelers select in the 2026 Draft to become the "Next Terry and/or Big Ben".
If nothing else, the presence of Aaron Rodgers and all the weirdness that surrounds him is gong to make the '25 Steelers season....interesting.
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