Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers says that the 2026 season will be his final one as an NFL player and that means he will never play in Green Bay as a visiting player.
Rodgers was a Packer for 18 seasons before being traded to the Jets in 2023 and neither the Jets nor the Steelers have played at Lambeau Field since he left the NFC North team. The Steelers hosted the Packers last season and will do so again for a Thursday preseason game.
During a Zoom call with Packers reporters on Wednesday, Rodgers said that he wishes the game had been scheduled as a road contest.
"It would have been strange , being in that [visitors] locker room and stuff, but I would have found my way over, like many former players have over the years . . . and see some of the guys and see some of the trainers and equipment staff and all the people I really care about that still work there. Yeah, I was definitely bummed out that we weren't in Lambeau for this one," Rodgers said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.
Rodgers said that there "has to be an invite back" for him to return to Lambeau once he's done playing. That seems inevitable given his place in franchise history and likely election to both the team and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but Rodgers would prefer that it happened a little sooner.