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Aaron Rodgers went viral last Thursday with some crafty touchdown passes for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the biggest clip that circulated was after a crucial one in the fourth quarter.
Rodgers was celebrating a 68-yard catch-and-run for six by tight end Pat Freiermuth that gave Pittsburgh a late lead against the Cincinnati Bengals, but when offensive tackle Broderick Jones tried to join Rodgers, the moment went awry. Jones jumped on top of Rodgers, and both of them fell to the turf.
Rodgers was heated, and he gave a straight answer as to why on Wednesday.
“What you don’t see in the video is right after the throw, he’s coming over to me and shaking me and shaking me,” Rodgers said about Jones. “I texted him, I said, ‘Hey, I love your energy, I love everything you’re about. But also, I’m 41. You can’t be out there tackling me.’”
Fair enough, Aaron.
The celebration didn’t last long for the Steelers, though, as Joe Flacco had his coming-out party in his first Bengals home game since being traded by the Cleveland Browns.
Flacco finished his great night with a game-winning drive to beat their AFC North rival, 33-31.
Rodgers threw for 249 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss. And Jones did deserve to celebrate given Rodgers wasn’t sacked once despite the loss.
While Rodgers doesn’t want Jones to tackle him again, the 6-foot-5, 311-pound tackle didn’t rule out it never happening again.
“It’s just the energy that he brings and that I bring,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “He told me, ‘Don’t lose the fire,’ and I told him the same. We shall see on Sunday after he throws another touchdown. I might tackle him again.”
It’ll be a special Sunday for Rodgers, who will face his former Green Bay Packers squad for the first time since he departed for the New York Jets two seasons ago. Rodgers obviously has storied history with the franchise that took him 24th overall in the 2005 NFL Draft.
He commented on facing the Packers, saying he doesn’t “have any animosity toward the organization.”
“I wish that things had been better in our last year there, but I have a great relationship with a lot of people still in that organization, and this is not a revenge game for me,” he told ESPN. “I’m just excited to see some of those guys and be on ‘Sunday Night Football’ again.”
With the prime time lights shining down on Acrisure Stadium on Sunday night, Rodgers may not consider this a revenge game, but he sure hopes to score a lot of touchdowns against his former team.
He’s just hoping to stay upright after throwing them.
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