Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and QB Aaron Rodgers were taking a big chance on each other. The Steelers waited patiently for a then 41-year-old quarterback who had not played all that well in recent years. Meanwhile, Rodgers went into a situation where there were not a lot of familiar faces.

But it’s safe to say that the odd marriage has worked out pretty well so far. The Steelers won the AFC North and will host the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round on Monday night. But when did Rodgers know he made the right decision? Well, to hear him tell it, “Once I made the decision, I felt like it was the right decision.” But there were some signs along the way, too.

“There was some confirmation moments for sure, yeah,” Rodgers said Thursday, per video from the team’s website. “When I got here, day one, minicamp, I felt like it was a little different in a good way. And I liked the feeling. And then obviously the Latrobe experience was a really positive one. Thankful that Mr. Rooney still has the team do that every single year. It’s a good chemistry building, team bonding opportunity.”

According to Rodgers, it didn’t take long before things felt a little different in Pittsburgh. He signed right ahead of mandatory minicamp, and that experience gave him a bit of a bump. Which is kind of odd, since he didn’t take any team snaps during minicamp. He did say it gave him a unique perspective, getting to sit back and watch. Evidently, spending those days observing the Steelers was a positive experience for him.

But training camp seems to be when things really took off for Rodgers. A big reason for that is the Steelers do training camp differently than a lot of teams.

The idea of a “destination” training camp, or going somewhere other than the stadium and facilities around the stadium, isn’t a common one anymore. Both of Rodgers’ former teams, the Green Bay Packers and the New York Jets, conduct their training camps at their home facilities. The Packers have been conducting training camp at their facility for nearly 70 years, while the Jets moved from SUNY Cortland to their Florham Park, NJ facility back in 2015.

So, Aaron Rodgers got his first taste of a destination training camp in 2025 at the age of 41 years old. And to him, it really brought the Steelers closer together. And it gave Rodgers the belief that the Steelers would be in this very position.

“Coming out of Latrobe, I felt good about our team, that we’d be in a position late in the year to play some meaningful football games,” Rodgers said.

Well, Monday night’s game against the Texans will certainly be a meaningful football game. It comes on the heels of one of the most meaningful games between the Steelers and their bitter rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. Aaron Rodgers came alive in the fourth quarter, engineering two touchdown drives, including the eventual game-winning touchdown to WR Calvin Austin III. After the game, head coach Mike Tomlin reaffirmed that these moments are why the Steelers waited for Rodgers.

Evidently, both sides are happy that the Steelers waited for Aaron Rodgers and that he chose to accept their offer.