GREEN BAY, Wis. — Not that there was any doubt, but Aaron Rodgers told Green Bay Packers reporters Thursday that he will retire with the team that drafted him when he closes his career.
Rodgers, speaking on a Zoom call ahead of the Packers’ matchup with his Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night, will one day have his No. 12 on the Lambeau Field facade as the seventh number retired in Packers history.
“I was there for 18 years,” Rodgers said. “Regardless of when I hang it up, that’s the bulk of my career. I’ll retire a Packer and see what happens after that. I’ve got a lot of love for the organization, my time there. They asked this week, ‘Is it a revenge game?’ or whatever. What do I got to be avenging here? They made me a ton of money. I grew up there, spent some of the best years of my life there. I’ve got nothing but love for the organization.
“Damn near everything great in my life is because of my football career, and my football career starts and will end one day with Green Bay. So I’ve got a lot of love for all those memories and a lot of great friends I still carry with me to this day.”
Rodgers told “The Pat McAfee Show” this summer that he’s “pretty sure” 2025 will be his final season in the NFL. If Rodgers retires after this season, that would likely send him into the Packers Hall of Fame four years later and the Pro Football Hall of Fame five years later, both on the first ballot. Rodgers must be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame before the Packers retire his number, though nobody has worn No. 12 since they traded him in 2023, and nobody will before it’s officially engraved next to Brett Favre’s No. 4.
The 41-year-old Rodgers is the league’s oldest player in his 21st season, but still more than capable of slinging the rock. He showcased as much in last Thursday night’s shootout against the Cincinnati Bengals, and has thrown 14 touchdowns to five interceptions through six games this season.
“The s— look the same,” said Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon, Rodgers’ teammate in 2022. “It’s his arm. It’s not really nothing else, just brain and arm, so he ain’t losing that.”
While Rodgers’ allegiance will lie with the Steelers (4-2) on Sunday night in Pittsburgh against the Packers (4-1-1), his desire to make his former team the 32nd one he’s defeated doesn’t detract from the memories he made in Green Bay.
Rodgers took a trip down memory lane Thursday on Zoom, from riding a custom golf cart across South Oneida Street to practice with former Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari, former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy putting an end to road-trip pranks by former Packers Matt Flynn, Graham Harrell, T.J. Lang and Josh Sitton because they were too crazy, throwing blankets and pillows at sleeping teammates on planes and more.
“We were always messing around, having a good time,” Rodgers said. “Those were some of the most fun … going way back, we had a crazy crew.”
There are 13 players still on the Packers who played at least a season with Rodgers, who last played for the team in 2022, but Rodgers had one at the top of his list when asked for his jersey swap preference after Sunday night’s game.
“It’d probably be Jordan (Love),” Rodgers said of the quarterback he mentored for three seasons before Love took over as Green Bay’s starter.
Packers-Steelers Thursday injury report pic.twitter.com/xdsPpVk5io
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) October 23, 2025
Love said this week that Sunday’s matchup is just another game, that he’s facing the Steelers defense and Rodgers is facing the Packers defense. Rodgers, however, was a bit more honest about what Sunday night will really mean.
“It’s one of 17, for sure. Obviously, the 18 years I played there, it’s a little more special than the other ones,” Rodgers said. “When I saw the NFC North was on the schedule and the Jets were on the schedule, that was pretty cool to be able to play all those teams. I said it a while ago, but this one would mean a lot more if it was in Lambeau just because of the affection I have for that place and that hallowed ground of Lambeau Field and all the amazing memories that I have there over the years.
“Most of the guys that have reached out this week and that I know really well are not on the team. It’s the training staff, it’s Adam (Korzun) in nutrition and Evan (Siegle) the photographer and those guys. So I’m excited to see those guys, especially. Obviously excited to see J-Love and Keisean and some of the guys I was with — Rome (Doubs) and Christian (Watson) — but I’m really excited to see all those guys and, hopefully, they’ll get out early so I can give them some love and catch up.”
.jpg?w=3800&h=2000 "Aaron Rodgers Reflects on Packers Tenure, Says Career Will End in Green Bay ‘One Day’")
