RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesAaron Rodgers on January 4, 2026 in Pittsburgh, United States. Credit: Joe Sargent/Getty
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Aaron Rodgers credits his wife for encouraging him to return for a 22nd and final NFL season
The Steelers quarterback confirmed during a Tuesday, July 28, press conference that his wife told him he could go for one final season
The couple secretly married in early 2025 after first meeting in 2017 and dating publicly in late 2024
Aaron Rodgers is crediting his wife for his return to the football field.
Rodgers, 42, revealed on Tuesday, July 28, that he almost retired after the 2025-26 NFL season. “I thought last year might be it,” Rodgers said, according to a clip from a press conference shared by the NFL .
But when Mike McCarthy was hired for the Steelers, he reevaluated. (Rodgers previously played under McCarthy for 13 seasons for the Green Bay Packers.) He asked his wife , who has publicly identified by her first name, Brittani, about a possible return — and she agreed.
“I talked to the wife, and she said, ‘You can do one more year,’ ” he said, smiling.
“I said, ‘Well, let’s see if it works out.’ And then it kind of all came together,” he added, according to a second clip from the press conference shared on X .
After months of speculation, Rodgers signed a one-year extension with the Steelers in May, marking his 22nd and final season . During the July 28 press conference, he insisted that this would be his final season, saying there is “zero debate” about whether or not he will come back.
After initially confirming the 1-year contract, Rodgers credited his wife for the decision to return during a May 20 press conference. He explained that he had “some doubt” about returning, but after chatting with McCarthy, Steelers general manager Omar Khan and his wife, he decided he wanted to come back.
“I had a lot of conversations with Mike, Omar, for a while,” he told media at the press conference. “And you know, had a lot of conversations with my wife about it, after the [NFL] draft came to the conclusion that I wanted to play, I wanted to come back.”
“I thought that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh,” he said. “But when the decision was made to hire Mike, I started opening my mind back up to coming back.”
Aaron Rodgers on January 12, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Credit: Joe Sargent/Getty
While Rodgers has credited his wife with the guidance, he has chosen to keep their relationship private. “ My private life is staying private ,” he said on The Pat McAfee Show in June 2025. “I’m with somebody who’s private,” he added, noting his wife “doesn’t want to be in the public eye” and “didn’t sign up to be a celebrity.”
“She signed up because she loves me and she supports me and she wants to spend the rest of our lives together and start a family together. She didn’t sign up to be out front, you know, a social media WAG,” he said. “She doesn’t want any of that bulls---, and I don’t either. And I was with that, which is even more telling. Like, do you understand? I was with it. I lived that life. I didn’t like it.”
Rodgers first went public with his relationship in December 2024, revealing he was dating a woman named Brittani. In June 2025, he confirmed the couple secretly married “a couple months” earlier.
However, he shared in a March 2026 episode of The Pat McAfee Show that he first met his now-wife in 2017 and knew he “wanted to be with her.”
Read the original article on People
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