How Aaron Rodgers 'pleasantly surprised' Steelers teammates during mandatory minicamp

Rookie quarterback Will Howard and cornerback Darius Slay are among the Pittsburgh Steelers players who had nothing but positive things to say about their experiences with Aaron Rodgers after the future Hall of Famer agreed to a team-friendly contract to join the club ahead of its mandatory minicamp. 

During an appearance on the latest edition of KDKA's "#1 Cochran Sports Showdown" program, Jeff Hathhorn of Pittsburgh sports radio station 93.7 The Fan touched upon how others inside the Steelers locker room feel about Rodgers during their summer break. 

"I think their impression was better than they anticipated," Hathhorn said, as shared by Josh Carney of Steelers Depot. "I think most of them are like, 'Yeah, he's a cooler guy. He is more normal than what you hear about,' because you hear so many things about Aaron Rodgers. Once they experienced him at least for three days, I think they were pleasantly surprised with what they saw."

Rodgers was sometimes referred to as a "distraction," "selfish" and "self-centered" during his tenure with the New York Jets that ran from April 2023 through the 2024 season. That said, multiple Jets players came to his defense during his time with the organization and after its new regime decided to part ways with him. More recently, Howard detailed how he's already received pointers from Rodgers early into their working relationship. 

NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated suggested it's not surprising that Howard has found Rodgers to be a useful resource after the 41-year-old mentored current Green Bay Packers starter Jordan Love over Love's first three pro campaigns. 

"As edgy as things got in Green Bay between Rodgers and the team, he never let it affect his relationship with Love, who spent three seasons as his backup," Breer wrote. "Perhaps because Brett Favre had been icy with him early in his own career (from 2005-07), Rodgers was intentional on mentoring Love, and would even send him texts at key points in his first season as starter to encourage him. As a Jet, he built a similarly strong relationship with Zach Wilson, the 2021 No. 2 pick whose struggles led to Rodgers' signing in ’23."

Rodgers' relationship with Wilson allegedly "soured" during the 2023 campaign. That said, Breer pointed out that Rodgers' teammates "mostly have loved him over the years," in part because of how "he treated his peers or his organization's ham-and-eggers." 

None of this means Rodgers will play at an elite level this coming fall, but it sounds like concerns regarding how he'd be accepted by Steelers players were largely overblown.