Get your popcorn ready because the revenge game years in the making is finally happening. Well, assuming Aaron Rodgers actually signs with the Pittsburgh Steelers, that is.
The NFL sure seems to believe so, having placed the Steelers in a blockbuster revenge game against the New York Jets in Week 1. Rodgers back at MetLife? Justin Fields taking on the Steelers? It's perfection.
But the Aaron Rodgers Revenge Tour doesn't end there.
He is on a collision course with the Green Bay Packers, the team he built a Hall-of-Fame legacy with. The NFL has set the date for Week 8, and their added twist makes Rodgers signing all the more likely.
The Packers and Steelers will battle under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football. Rodgers has beaten every team in the league during his historic career, but this will be his first swing at taking down the team that drafted him.
NFL reserves prime real estate for Aaron Rodgers' anticipated showdown with Packers
The story writes itself. Rodgers didn't go full Brett Favre and sign with the Minnesota Vikings, but it wasn't for lack of trying. That irritated plenty of Packers fans.
And irritated is a good word to describe how Rodgers felt about Brian Gutekunst — his 31-minute rant at a training camp press conference is still one of the Packers' highest-viewed YouTube videos.
Make no mistake, there's a lot of love and respect between Rodgers and the Packers. One day, he'll take his spot in the Packers Hall of Fame. His resume in Canton, Ohio, won't be for his glittering New York Jets career, but for the legacy he built in Green Bay.
Before then, the two sides need to get a revenge game out of their system. Can Jordan Love take down his mentor? Rodgers would love to prove the Packers wrong for moving on, even if he doesn't admit it publicly (he'll probably not-so-subtly hint at it to Pat McAfee).
This matchup belongs on the grandest stage, and the NFL agrees. While Rodgers must kick off his revenge tour in a contest that truly feels all about payback against the Jets, the world is highly anticipating his duel with Love and the Packers.
It belongs on Sunday Night Football. Buckle up. The show is just getting started.