PITTSBURGH — William Parker was the first to greet News Tealers quarterback Aaron Rodgers as Rodgers was drawn into the team facility at 7:15am on Tuesday morning.
Wore a black suit and screaming through a megaphone wrapped in dollar bills, a longtime Steelers fan from Pittsburgh was called to Rogers to leave the grey Range Rover.
“Aaron, you broke my heart in the Super Bowl, but I forgive you,” Parker said. Rogers laughed, waving a hoodie that roamed around the sidewalk by the car park and darts between the bushes and the black fence bar to get a video of the 41-year-old quarterback.
But Rogers wasn’t the only Parker. For the past five years, the 40-year-old has greeted players in mandatory mini-camps, cheering for players and pleading with “Money Megaphone” and posters.
Rodgers is a polarizing figure, but one of the Parkers, previously linked to the Steelers’ loss of heartbreak to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV, was optimistic that would help the quarterback bring his seventh Lombardi trophy to the team’s trophy case.
“The other players know that there are four MVPs playing for the Steelers, so I’m sure they’ll be playing to a certain level,” Parker said.
While Parker packed gear into the sidewalks within the building, Rodgers didn’t wait until his first week of showdown with the Jets until he set the tone for his Steelers tenure.
It took more than 70 days between Rogers’ marching visit to the Pittsburgh facility and his signature, but in tentative terms he remained in touch with Director Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and general manager Omar Khan. His delay in final decisions told the trio, and he said it was linked to issues in his personal life. During that time, the Steelers “gived him space and respect,” a team source told ESPN, making Rogers love him.
“The falling relationship between me and Mike was without other options for me when I was going through something personal,” Rogers said. “I was there or I wasn’t playing.”
According to Rodgers, the situation regarding his personal issues has been “improved,” and the team concluded week two of OTAS, approaching a mandatory minicamp, with debate escalating during the morning of June 5, according to one team source. The Steelers, despite being optimistic throughout the process, have finally begun to believe that the deal will actually come to fruition. By Thursday night, Rogers and the Steelers had agreed to the terms to end the long courtship.
“I didn’t want to shorten the guy and sign him, but I’m somewhere else, mentally or physically,” Rogers said. “I had to take care of my business until I was here and all in.”
Shortly after Tomlin began his team meeting at 8am Tuesday, Rodgers stood up and conveyed the same sentiment to his new teammate.
“That was the main message. He’s all in and ready to go,” Zach Frasier Center said.
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When Rodgers first arrived at the facility, he asked quarterback coach Tom Earth if he could print the playbook. Rogers, an old-fashioned guy, said he prefers to take notes with a pencil on paper prints of aggressive installations rather than using a tablet. Arth relayed the request to admin assistant Chrissy Bulger. Before Rogers’ first offensive meeting, Bulger assembled the binder and included a pouch of pencils, erasers and highlighters.
“After the meeting, Aaron came in and asked, ‘Did you say Chrissy put this together?'” Arth said. “He went and first thanked him for putting it all together, and he gave her a pencil, pen and highlighter, and said, “I’ve already bought my own. And I don’t need you to order any more.”
“It was a very thoughtful way to introduce yourself to Chrissy and start building that relationship. It definitely stood out to me.”
Rogers signalled the organization, but he was all in by signing a contract and reporting to the minicamp, but he didn’t actually fully complement his duties anytime soon. That was Tomlin’s idea, Rogers said the quarterbacks were adapting to the organization and offensive scheme.
“A lot of these things are things I’ve done before, but there are new terms and new types of motion words and a variety,” Rogers said. “I’m learning. I go through individual things. I told the microphone. [work] Until I attacked. ”
Rodgers came in fourth behind Mason Rudolph, Skyler Thompson and Wil Howard, mainly during individual quarterback drills in the first two days. During the team, he watched from behind the play, studied practice scripts and chatted with Smith, Earth and offensive assistant Matt Baker.
“I just want to be a servant leader here,” Rogers said.
During Tuesday’s practice period, players reached out to Rogers. Outside the rookie linebacker Jack Sawyer, 18-year-old Rodgers junior, was among those who introduced mid-term handshakes.
“It’s one of the quarterbacks you grew up in and you’ll see in the front yard, emulate and throw soccer when you’re a little kid,” Sawyer said. “And now, being here in my newcomer year and having him as my teammate is pretty surreal. And the funny thing is, my grandma is a huge fan and loves Aaron Rodgers, she probably called me 10 times to ask how he is and what he is.”
Sawyer’s best friend and Ohio teammate Howard wondered the same thing before meeting Rogers over the weekend. And he was surprised by his first impression of Star Quarterback.
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“You’d think he’s this big, famous guy – everyone knows Aaron Rodgers, but he’s very realistic and not something you’d expect,” Howard said. “And he’s very personality on the last day I’ve spoken to him.”
After he finished his first practice, Rogers stood in front of the Steelers-surrounded background next to the practice field, addressing a fleet of cameras and a horde of media members, comparing the whirlwind day to the school’s first day.
The reality is that the three-day mandatory mini-camp was like an extended meeting night before the start of the school year. Rogers will not return to all of his teammates until the Steelers report to training camp in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on July 23, and it is unlikely that he will return to the training facility until the camp breaks down in mid-August. But in the meantime, he has a summer reading assignment – his playbook – and will likely take part in a throwing session or two with his new teammate.
“I have to try and persuade them to come out in Malibu. [California]”He said with a smile, “I think it’s going to be a tough sell.”
NFL reporters Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano contributed to the story.
