EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsGREEN BAY, Wis. -- If this is indeed Aaron Rodgers' final season, he will end his career without playing at Lambeau Field as a visitor, something he thought might happen this season.In advance of Thursday's Packers-Steelers preseason game in Pittsburgh, Rodgers said when he first heard the teams were slated to play this summer, he had hoped it would be in Green Bay."100%, 100%," Rodgers told Packers reporters Wednesday during a Zoom call. "When I heard it was possible to play both my former teams, I was really hoping this one was going to be in Green Bay, not just to get back at Lambeau one more time, but to head out to Chives [restaurant] for a dinner and maybe head out to Green Bay Country Club for a quick nine or something. I was really hoping it was going to be in Green Bay for a lot of reasons."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 spent 18 years with the Packers before he was traded to the New York Jets in 2023. The Jets did not play the Packers in either of Rodgers' two seasons there. After signing with the Steelers in 2025, Rodgers played against the Packers last season, but the game was at Acrisure Stadium. Green Bay won 35-25.At some point, Rodgers will almost certainly return to Lambeau Field. He has said this will be his last season, which means if he is a first-ballot Hall of Famer that his name would go up on the stadium faade in five years with the other former Packers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His No. 12 likely would be retired, and he could be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame after four seasons of retirement."Well, there first has to be an invite back," Rodgers said. "We'll see about that, but yeah, I'm always going to have such a strong tie to Green Bay and the organization. If that comes to fruition, that could be a cool deal."Throughout the 20-minute session, Rodgers spoke fondly about both the city of Green Bay and the Packers organization.Asked what he will miss the most when he is retired, Rodgers said: "Definitely the people I got to do it with.""That's what this game's all about," Rodgers added. "It's about the relationships, and I'm just most thankful for all the all the men and women, you know, who've been in my life through this game over the years. So many great people in Green Bay, in the entire organization, top to bottom. You know, just salt of the earth-type of people. ... But the thing that actually lasts the longest is those people that impact your life, and there's been a lot of those, a lot of especially in Green Bay, it had a huge impact on my life. So I think about those people a lot."
