Aaron Rodgers (12) and Jordan Love (10) were teammates for three seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
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The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers meet every four years, and it’s always one of the NFL’s marquee matchups.
The interest level could rise to new heights this season if the game features a Jordan Love vs. Aaron Rodgers battle.
Love sat behind Rodgers for three seasons, before taking over as the Packers’ starter in 2023. Love has led Green Bay to the playoffs in both of his seasons as a starter, including a trip to divisional playoffs in 2023.
Rodgers played the last two years with the New York Jets, but was released this offseason and is currently looking for a new home. Rodgers has had talks with the Steelers, and Pittsburgh remains the favorite to sign the 41-year old quarterback.
The Packers and Steelers will play in Pittsburgh this season. And if Rodgers is a Steeler, the storylines will be endless.
Love is one of many who hopes he gets the chance to face his former mentor.
“I would love to get the opportunity to play against A-Rod,” Love said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show Thursday. “Having a guy that mentored me in the league, someone I got to be a backup behind, to get the opportunity to play against him and be on the other side of him, it would be special. It would be cool.”
Although Rodgers was agitated when the Packers used the 26th overall pick in the 2020 draft on Love — and eventually held out in the summer of 2021 — there was never any bad blood between the two quarterbacks. Rodgers treated Love well and the two stayed in contact after Rodgers was traded to the Jets in March, 2023.
That was in stark contrast to the Brett Favre-Rodgers relationship 15 years earlier. When the Packers drafted Rodgers in 2005, he and Favre didn’t click during their three seasons together.
Favre eventually wound up playing for the Minnesota Vikings and faced Rodgers and the Packers four times.
Favre’s Vikings rolled past Green Bay twice in 2009 — including a memorable 38-26 win at Lambeau Field. In 2010, though, the Packers went 2-0 against Minnesota and later won Super Bowl XLV.
All four of those matchups were ratings bonanzas for television networks. And a Love vs. Rodgers matchup in 2025 would undoubtedly yield similar results.
“I’ve heard a lot of rumors it might be Aaron Rodgers. We’ll see,” Love said when asked about Rodgers becoming a Steeler. “Obviously with Justin Fields and Russell Wilson both leaving, it’s an open window. So, it’s up in the air. We’ll see.”
