Aaron Rodgers Makes Packers-Steelers Jersey-Swap Selection

In what might be his farewell tour, Aaron Rodgers’ jersey is in demand.

With Rodgers’ former team, the Green Bay Packers, set to play his current team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, on Sunday night, who will be the target of the postgame jersey swap?

“I have been jersey-swapping,” Rodgers said in a Zoom call with Packers beat reporters on Thursday. “I jersey-swapped with Lucas Patrick last week. Lucas was a great player for us for a long time. One of my favorites. You guys know what kind of guy he was – just as tough as they come.

“There’s a lot of guys over there that I still have a lot of love for and played with. I’d say at the top of my list would be J-Love. The Packers have always been a little weird about swapping. I don’t know what the policy is these days but, if there was one, it'd probably be Jordan.”

Told what Rodgers had just said, Love flashed a big smile.

“I want his jersey,” Love said. “I hope I’m on top of his list. I already talked to him about it, so I hope so.”

Love would be the obvious choice, because there’s not a lot of obvious jersey-swap candidates. While there are coaches, equipment staffers, trainers and other staff members that he knows in Green Bay, only 14 former teammates are still on the team.

Moreover, Rashan Gary, Elgton Jenkins, Love and Isaiah McDuffie are the only players on the team who spent more than one season with Rodgers.

“It’s a fun one but the league is so crazy,” Rodgers said. “If you look at the roster, there’s not many guys that I played with still left on the team. That’s the interesting part about the league and the roster turnovers that happen, now being three years separated from the team. Most of the guys that have reached out this week and that I know really well are not on the team.

“Obviously excited to see J-Love and Keisean (Nixon) and some of the guys I was with – Rome(o Doubs) and Christian (Watson) – but I’m really excited to see all those guys and, hopefully, they’ll get out early so I can give them some love and catch up.”

Rodgers does have some Green Bay jersey-swap history. After Green Bay’s victory over Dallas in 2022 at Lambeau Field, Rodgers and Micah Parsons swapped jerseys.

“I saw Hall of Fame potential,” Rodgers said. “Obviously, he’s fulfilled that. He’s an incredible player, one of the rare guys overall in the 21 years I’ve been a part of it – 18 as a starter – that you’ve got to account for on every play. I can probably count them on one hand and maybe get into the second hand if you go back to the Jared Allens and Julius Peppers.

“He’s a guy you’ve got to account for every play. The Aaron Donalds of the world, Khalil Mack when he was rolling, T.J. Watt obviously. I just loved his motor, constant, loved his attitude, seemed to really love football, which I’ve always gravitated towards. I’m just thinking this guy’s going to be in the Hall of Fame, let’s jersey-swap, that would be pretty cool.”

Rodgers’ final season in Green Bay was 2022. After two seasons with the Jets and now this season with Pittsburgh, Rodgers occasionally has used the word “we” when talking about the Packers.

It’s easy to understand. Rodgers was a first-round pick by the Packers in 2005, so his early adulthood was spent in Green Bay.

So, a piece of Rodgers will always be in Green Bay.

“I’d hope so,” he said. “I was there for 18 years. That’s, regardless of when I hang it up, that’s the bulk of my career. I’ll retire as a Packer and see what happens after that. I’ve got a lot of love for the organization (and) my time there. They asked this week, is it a revenge game or whatever. What do I got to be avenging here? They made me a ton of money. I grew up there, spent some of the best years of my life there. I’ve got nothing but love for the organization.”

Rodgers has said multiple times that this won’t be a grudge match. That doesn’t mean it’s not especially important. Rodgers has a chance to have beaten every team in his career. This will be a battle between first-place teams, and the Steelers are looking to rebound after last week’s loss.

“It’s one of 17 (games), for sure,” Rodgers said. “Obviously, the 18 years I played there, it’s a little more special than the other ones. When I saw the NFC North was on the schedule and the Jets were on the schedule, that was pretty cool to be able to play all those teams.

“I said it a while ago but this one would mean a lot more if it was in Lambeau, just because of the affection I have for that place and that hallowed ground of Lambeau Field and all the amazing memories that I have there over the years.”