Is a McCarthy-Rodgers Reunion in the Steelers’ Future?

PITTSBURGH STEELERS HEAD COACH MIKE MCCARTHY IS INTRODUCED AT A PRESS CONFERENCE. PHOTO BY KARL ROSER/PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Aaron Rodgers once described Mike McCarthy as “Pittsburgh toughness and grit on the outside and a big, soft teddy bear on the inside, a great combination to have.”

We saw the teddy bear on Tuesday at Acrisure Stadium, when McCarthy, a Greenfield native, was introduced as the 17th head coach of the Steelers and failed to make it through his opening statement without blubbering.

Will we next see a McCarthy-Rodgers reunion?

A few things will need to be sorted out first, specifically whether Rodgers has any interest in playing a 22nd NFL season at 42 going on 43, and what type of compensation he’d be expecting in return.

But in the event neither of the above complications prove to be a deal-breaker (a reasonable assumption), McCarthy sounds like he’d be all in on getting the band back together.

“Definitely, I don’t see what you wouldn’t,” McCarthy maintained.

As for Rodgers, he signed on with the Steelers to play for Mike Tomlin.

And upon Tomlin’s departure, even Steelers president Art Rooney II acknowledged Tomlin’s exit would “most likely affect” Rodgers’ decision.

But that was before McCarthy entered the picture.

PHOTO BY EVAN SIEGLE, GREEN BAY PACKERS

Rodgers and McCarthy spent almost 13 complete seasons in Green Bay together. And as of November 2022, when Rodgers offered up his Pittsburgh-grit-and-teddy-bear assessment, Rodgers was remembering his “longest-tenured coach” and “longest-tenured play-caller” with great appreciation.

The occasion then was an impending visit by McCarthy’s Dallas Cowboys to Lambeau Field in Green Bay to take on his former quarterback and his former team.

Rodgers, understandably, was peppered with questions by media covering the Packers about his relationship with McCarthy, and what he remembered most from their time together.

If there was any lingering bitterness, Rodgers kept it well hidden while expressing, beyond anything else, “thankfulness, gratitude” and fond memories.

“There’s a lot of things,” Rodgers offered. “Getting sized [for championship rings] the night before the Super Bowl will always be a special memory.”

That was the night before the Packers beat the Steelers, 31-25, on Feb. 6, 2011, in Super Bowl XLV.

“That whole night, we delayed the team meeting, I don’t know, 15 minutes or so, because a couple guys were on the piano, playing some songs,” Rodgers continued. “You just kinda felt that moment was special and I appreciated us delaying things and allowing that moment to exist. And then getting sized for your ring, just the confidence that kind of we had and what that statement meant was always really special.

“Mike and I started meeting Thursdays after practice for many, many years, in 2009 or 2010, I think it was, and those were always fun. Those could go 30 minutes or four hours, just start getting into story time. It just bonded us, I think, over the years, those conversations, and I always appreciated that.

“I have a lot of gratitude for the off-seasons that we went through. It was long, obviously the rules were a little bit different. That helped me become a better player and I’ll always be really thankful for that time, especially those early off-seasons.”

PITTSBURGH STEELERS HEAD COACH MIKE MCCARTHY IS INTRODUCED AT A PRESS CONFERENCE. PHOTO BY KARL ROSER/PITTSBURGH STEELERS )

McCarthy has forged a career out of helping quarterbacks become better players.

At 62, he might not fit the Steelers’ traditional hire-a-head-coach-for-the-long-haul mold.

But in reminiscing back in November of 2022, Rodgers focused on far more than just fundamentals, X’s and O’s.

“There were definitely some tears over the years both in team settings and also some 1-on-1 settings,” Rodgers revealed. “Him and I definitely shed some tears over the years together in conversations, usually happy tears, I would say. Mike’s a big-hearted guy. There were a lot of real private conversations that we had over the years that I just appreciated his honestly in some of those moments.

“We had a really memorable time, 2013, on Christmas, actually. I hit him up in the afternoon and said, ‘Hey, once things are winding down with the kids, I’d like to come over and have a conversation with you. So I went over, I think he had a couple Iron Citys. I might have had one just to make him not drink alone but I wasn’t ever really an Iron City guy. But we had a long conversation about my desire to play in the following week against Chicago. (Rodgers had missed the previous seven games).

“That was a really memorable conversation. Obviously, it was Christmas and that has a whole myriad of emotions it brings into it. But that time and that conversation is always one that stands out for me.”

The insights Rodgers offered then were a rare look behind the curtain on the head coach-quarterback relationship curtain, but to Rodgers also appropriate.

“I think it’s normal to think about the things that you really loved about that relationship or that style or that program and just contemplate how special some of those moments were,” he said.

Doesn’t sound much like a guy who would be opposed to playing for McCarthy again, does it?

The Steelers should be so lucky.