The NFL missed a rare opportunity with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, and league won’t have a chance to rectify it
Packers and Steelers will play a preseason game this week, but it won’t be at Lambeau Field, and it’s hard to understand why.
The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers will face off Thursday in their preseason opener at Acrisure Stadium, but this game should be at Lambeau Field. The NFL missed a chance to create something special for Aaron Rodgers, the Packers, and the fan base that watched him play for 17 seasons. With Rodgers entering his final NFL season, scheduling this preseason matchup in Pittsburgh instead of Green Bay feels like a significant missed opportunity.
Rodgers has said this is his last rodeo. He’s in his second season with the Steelers, and when this year ends, so does one of the most decorated careers in league history. The preseason schedule isn’t predetermined the way the regular season is. The league had flexibility here, and it chose not to use it.
A final trip to Lambeau would be awesome
Putting this game at Lambeau Field would have given Rodgers one last chance to play on the field where he built most of his NFL career. Beyond the game itself, the Packers and Steelers could have scheduled a joint practice earlier in the week, potentially on Tuesday, two days before the matchup.
That would have created an opportunity for Rodgers to ride a bike with young Packers fans at Lambeau Field, the kind of moment that connects a franchise legend with a younger generation of supporters who may not have experienced the Rodgers era firsthand. It’s a small gesture, but it’s the type of thing that resonates in Green Bay.
McCarthy connection adds another layer
The reunion angle extends beyond Rodgers. Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy is a legend in Green Bay, with a street named after him near Lambeau Field. The chance to bring both McCarthy and Rodgers back to Green Bay for one extra visit was right there, and the NFL let it pass.
Both sides would have enjoyed the moment. McCarthy spent over a decade coaching the Packers and won a Super Bowl with Rodgers. The connection between those two figures and the Green Bay community runs deep, and a preseason week in Wisconsin would have celebrated that history in a meaningful way.
What we’re left with instead
The Packers and Rodgers already met last season in the regular season, also in Pittsburgh. Green Bay won that game 35-25. Now, the stakes will be even lower. Rodgers may not even play in Thursday’s preseason contest, which makes the scheduling decision feel even more frustrating. This is the last time the Packers and Steelers share a field during Rodgers’ career unless they face off in the Super Bowl, and it will happen with few Green Bay fans in the building.
