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Shortly after quarterback Aaron Rodgers re-signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers this past spring, he announced that the 2026 NFL season will be the last of his playing career.
While speaking with Adam Schein of the New York Post on Monday, Steelers legend and Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis insisted that Rodgers gave the rest of the Pittsburgh squad “a nugget” ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Will Steelers players have extra motivation to win after Aaron Rodgers’ retirement announcement?
“He also said, ‘Yes, this is my last year.’ Well, that’s motivation,” Bettis said about Rodgers’ revelation, per Brendan Howe of Steelers Now. “They wanna make sure that they get the best out of him, and the best opportunity — because there are no (other chances).”
Multiple reports shared throughout the first half of 2026 detailed how Rodgers became a popular figure among Steelers players during his first season with the organization. That said, some members of the NFL community are skeptical that Rodgers can be even an average QB1 at the age of 42 (he will turn 43 on Dec. 2).
According to Pro Football Reference, Rodgers ended the 2025 regular season ranked 27th in the league among qualified players with a 44.4 adjusted QBR, 14th with a 94.8 passer rating and 15th with 3,322 passing yards. Over 16 games, he recorded 24 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Perhaps most worrisome about Rodgers’ performances, he looked well past his prime when he had a fourth-quarter fumble and a fourth-quarter interception returned for touchdowns in a blowout 30-6 wild-card playoff loss to the Houston Texans back in January. Obviously, Rodgers hasn’t gotten any younger since that game wrapped up.
Jerome Bettis thinks the 2026 Steelers will have extra “energy” after the Aaron Rodgers news
As much as Rodgers struggled against the Texans, Bettis seems convinced that the 2026 Steelers will want to do all they can to ensure the future Hall of Famer doesn’t walk off the field for the last time as an active player in January 2027 with his head down.
“This is our last opportunity with Aaron Rodgers and the great player that he has been, and that he is,” Bettis continued during his comments. “So there’s gonna be some energy there that not a lot of people are thinking about or expecting.”
Rodgers returned to the Steelers to play for head coach Mike McCarthy, Rodgers’ coach when the two were with the Green Bay Packers from 2006 through much of the 2018 season. If Rodgers and McCarthy can turn the clock back for a handful of months, the Steelers could do more than participate in a single playoff game before Rodgers ultimately rides off into the sunset of retirement.
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