Report: Aaron Rodgers got emotional during Mike Tomlin’s final meeting with Steelers players

Aaron Rodgers was emotional after Mike Tomlin spoke to the Pittsburgh Steelers players during his final team meeting this week. According to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic, Rodgers made his way to Tomlin at the end of the meeting and was sobbing. And when the four-time NFL MVP got to Tomlin, several players heard him say, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Tomlin stepped down as Steelers head coach after being with the team for 19 seasons. Rodgers joined the Steelers this season and has stated that Tomlin was the reason he wanted to play in Pittsburgh.

After the Steelers lost to the Houston Texans in the wildcard playoff game on Monday night. Rodgers called out the people who believed that Tomlin was on the hot seat.

“This league has changed a lot in my 21 years,” Rodgers said. “When you hear a conversation about the Mike Tomlins of the world, Matt LaFleurs of the world, those are just two that I played for. When I first got in the league, there wouldn’t be conversation about whether those guys were on the hot seat. But the way that the league is covered now and the way that there’s snap decisions and the validity given to the Twitter experts and all the experts on TV now who make it seem like they know what the hell they’re talking about, to me that’s an absolute joke.”

Aaron Rodgers defends Mike Tomlin before resignation

“Mike T’s had more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19, 20 years,” Rodgers said. “More than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don’t think about making a change.”

Rodgers wasn’t the only Steelers player who was emotional about Tomlin stepping down. Players such as Joey Porter Jr. and TJ Watt were in disbelief in learning that Tomlin was no longer going to be with them on the sidelines, according to DeFabo.

“No one really saw it coming,” one player told DeFabo. “Did we have an inkling? There were rumblings, but we thought he would play out his contract, at least one more year. We all thought at least one more year.”

In Tomlin’s 19 seasons with the Steelers, he never had a losing season. The 53-year-old led the team to two Super Bowl appearances while winning one of them and has a regular-season record of 193-114-2.