Aaron Rodgers doesn’t want to be your villain anymore.
He knows he is to Bears fans anyway — even if he’ll be wearing the Steelers’ hypocycloid instead of a football-shaped G on his helmet Sunday at Soldier Field.
“I mean, I’m not in Green Bay anymore,” he told Pittsburgh reporters Wednesday. “I feel like we can let bygones be bygones, maybe. I can, I guess.”
As for Bears fans?
“I hope those fans can put that behind them,” he said. “I’m sure they can’t. Don’t expect them to.”
Rodgers will be booed, whether he’s in street clothes or with the ball in his hands. The latter is seeming more likely than it was Sunday afternoon, when Rodgers broke his left wrist against the Bengals.
Rodgers didn’t practice Wednesday but said he hopes to on Thursday. He’s not worried about the pain in his wrist. The team is trying to fit him with a brace that would enable him to take snaps — the goal is to do so under center, though the Steelers could put him in a pistol formation — and protect himself were he to fall on the ground.
Rodgers has never played on the Lakefront wearing anything other than green and yellow. But returning to Soldier Field has been on Rodgers’ radar since before he signed with the Steelers. He knew exactly where the Steelers were scheduled to play in Week 12.
“There’s been some great memories there,” he said.
Those include some of his 25 wins in 30 games as part of a rivalry he considers among best in the NFL. He compared the matchup to the Yankees-Red Sox in Major League Baseball and Lakers-Celtics in the NBA.
He’s colorfully contributed to it for a generation. After sealing a win at Soldier Field in 2021, Rodgers yelled at the crowd that, “All my [bleeping] life, I own you. I own you. I still own you.” The next year, he gave Bears fans a military-style salute, saying that “you never know when it’s going to be your last time playing at a place.”
That was the last time he went to Soldier Field. Until Sunday. Maybe.
“When I first got to Green Bay, the Bears had the all-time series lead,” he said. “When I left, the Packers did. Since [Packers quarterback Jordan] Love has taken over, it’s even gotten better.”
Even though Rodgers plays on a different team, the Bears’ respect for him hasn’t changed.
“He’s done this at a high level for an incredible amount of time,” coach Ben Johnson said. “And if he’s ready to go this week, I would love nothing more to compete against him.”
He’s not the only one. The Bears are expecting that he will play, safety Kevin Byard said, and are preparing for him to.
“Everybody on this defense and this team wants to play Aaron Rodgers. …” Byard said.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with his record against Chicago — I think it’s, ‘I want to play against Aaron Rodgers. I want to shake his hand after the game and tell him ‘good game’ — and obviously him congratulate us on a win.”
Quarterback Caleb Williams admired Rodgers as a kid but has never faced him as a pro.
“Growing up as a kid, when you find and realize how hard it is to play this position, you admire some of the things he’s been able to do over this long career he’s had,” Williams said. “The way he’s been able to spin the ball, put the ball in different places, on the run or in the pocket.”
He’s also thought about what the handshake afterward might feel like.
“You always want to go versus the best when you play,” he said, “and hopefully get to say what’s up to him and shake his hand out there.”
That runs counter to what some Bears fans think — whether they’re hoping to rack up wins to make the playoffs or are just plain sick of Rodgers giving his team a better chance to win. If he can’t play, backup Mason Rudolph will. He has a 9-8-1 career record.
Johnson wasn’t worried about the Steelers changing their game plan because of a quarterback change, saying that play-caller Arthur Smith’s film from the Falcons, Titans and Steelers has left a “pretty good track record of what he wants to be about.”
The Steelers want to play with physicality, Johnson said — it’s unclear whether Rodgers will be able to do that with a brace on his left hand. Byard joked that he might pay attention to the brace if he blitzes but thinks the quarterback will handle the injury well.
“He’s gonna be the same guy,” Byard said.
That’s a scary thought for Bears fans, even if Rodgers’ uniform looks different.
Rodgers recapped his lifelong fondness for Chicago, saying that he grew up watching WGN in California and became a Cubs and Bulls fan.
“How can you not be a Bulls fan — unless you don’t like Michael Jordan?” Rodgers said.
Lifelong Packers fans might believe the same thing about Rodgers.
