Aaron Rodgers explained his reasoning behind playing one last season in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
There's another reason for his willingness to join the Steelers, though: receiver DK Metcalf.
"DK is a lead-by-example guy," Rodgers said during his Tuesday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. "He's a big reason I'm in Pittsburgh as well. Conversations that we had, and just the kind of person that he is. At the start of the year, I didn't really know DK at all.
"He's like, 'I work out at 6 a.m. every day.' I'm like, OK, this guy has discipline, this guy has a drive. I said, How about 8 o'clock because I'm gonna have to drive from Malibu to UCLA? He said, 'Yeah, that's fine.' He's not just a specimen, but he's a really solid human being.
"He is a solid dude, and he leads by example. The way he practices. The room goes how the top dog goes, and when DK catches the ball and finishes 60 yards to the end zone, it makes everyone else want to do the same thing."
Pittsburgh could use that sort of thing. The Steelers had only two touchdown receptions of 30-plus yards in 2024: a 32-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams to beat Washington in Week 10, and a 55-yarder to Calvin Austin III to ice a 20-10 win over the Chargers in Week 3.
George Pickens was liable to make such a play in 2024, but the Steelers moved him in a trade to Dallas after acquiring Metcalf, a player they believe can produce such explosive plays. Just last year, Metcalf racked up three 30-plus-yard TD receptions in his final season with the Seahawks.
Metcalf will be valuable as more than just a big-play target, of course. Rodgers indicated he knows this when speaking of Metcalf's work ethic, which he likely hopes will become contagious among his Steelers teammates.
At minimum, they'll get one season's worth of a chance to make magic together. Rodgers hopes it resembles what he achieved with Davante Adams back in their Green Bay days.
