Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers Wishes He Played For Mike Tomlin Much Longer

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has already made a strong impression on Aaron Rodgers.

Following a lengthy offseason process, Rodgers joined the Steelers to play his 21st season. He’s yet to see any in-game action for Pittsburgh, but the 41-year-old is already a huge fan of Tomlin.

Rodgers discussed his new head coach during a recent appearance on the “Not Just Football” podcast hosted by Steelers teammate Cam Heyward.

“I told Mike, I wish I had him for 15 years of my career,” Rodgers said. “And that’s no shot to anybody ahead of him. Mike McCarthy and I were real close, still are. I love Mike, but I wish I could have played 30 (years) and had 15. I had 13 with Mike McCarthy. Would’ve been cool to have 13 with Mike Tomlin.”

The four-time MVP explained why he’s already so fond of Tomlin, the NFL’s longest-tenured head coach entering his 19th season in Pittsburgh.

“There’s no substitute for that leadership in front of the meeting,” Rodgers said. “And the biggest compliment I can give him is — and it made me feel the best — was that every time we talked beginning in March, never once felt like it was coach to player … A lot of conversations you have with coaches, it always feels like there’s maybe an agenda or an angle.”

Rodgers appreciated how Tomlin handled the courting process before the quarterback signed with the Steelers. Tomlin had genuine conversations with the Super Bowl champion, keeping their talks private, rather than aggressively recruiting him.

“He always remembered things, like names of people,” Rodgers recalled of Tomlin. “Because I was really honest about my situation, and there was a cone of silence between our conversations about what I was telling him. And he would remember things and ask about people that I was telling him about, and that just meant the world to me. I felt like I was talking to a friend, not a coach who was trying to get me to make a decision.”

Rodgers will make his Steelers debut against his former team, the New York Jets, on Sept. 7.

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