A little over a week ago, to the surprise of pretty much nobody, former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told the world that his first season with the Pittsburgh Steelers will likely be his last, saying to Pat McAfee that there's "no better place to finish than in one of the cornerstone franchises of the NFL with Mike Tomlin and a great group of leadership and great guys in the city that expects you to win."
Rodgers, of course, contemplated retirement for several months after his disastrous two-year run with the New York Jets came to an end, effectively holding the Steelers hostage before finally agreeing to a one-year contract worth $13.65 million.
The four-time NFL MVP was undoubtedly accurate in the assessment of his new team, as expectations are sky-high for the Steelers in 2025, given all the additions they've made during the offseason, a list that now includes cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith following their recent blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins.
One perk for Rodgers is that he'll get at least one crack at each of his former teams during the 2025 season, as Pittsburgh kicks off the year with a Week 1 matchup at MetLife Stadium against the Jets and will welcome Green Bay to Acrisure Stadium for a Sunday Night Football showdown in Week 8.
He also gets to make one final visit to Soldier Field, as the Steelers will travel to the Windy City for a Week 12 battle with Caleb Williams and the new-look Chicago Bears. So, there will certainly be no shortage of storylines for the 10-time Pro Bowler this season.
Getting back to the Packers, though, there is one way in which they could square off against the quarterback they employed for 18 years for a second time, the obvious setting for that scenario being Super Bowl 60.
And given the venue where the fight for the Lombardi Trophy will be contested this February, Rodgers could conceivably write what would be one of the greatest storybook endings in NFL history, even if it would come at the expense of the Packers.
Aaron Rodgers facing the Packers in the Super Bowl at the home of the 49ers would be gold
As every Cheesehead well remembers, Rodgers captured the lone championship of his career against the team for which he now plays, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns in the Packers' 31-25 victory over the Steelers in Super Bowl 45.
Now, the odds of Green Bay and Pittsburgh meeting in Super Bowl 60 aren't great. And that's legit being literal, as DraftKings currently lists the odds of that matchup taking place at +19000. To put that in perspective, there are 69 other potential contests getting shorter odds.
But just for the sake of argument, let's say this happens, and the Packers and Steelers each get to the Big Game for the first time since that night at AT&T Stadium 15 years ago.
Rodgers taking on his former team for the Lombardi Trophy in a matchup he's already been on the other side of is obviously a big story in itself. But throw in the fact that Super Bowl 60 is taking place in Santa Clara, California, at Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, and the story almost becomes too good to be true.
Rodgers, of course, grew up in northern California and closed his collegiate career at Cal-Berkeley. As a longtime 49ers fan, the Chico native dreamed of playing for San Francisco and thought he might get that chance when he entered the 2005 NFL Draft, only to watch the Niners select Alex Smith with the No. 1 overall pick. Rodgers finally heard his name called 23 picks later when the Packers took him at No. 24.
So, to sum up, you've got Aaron Rodgers winning a Super Bowl with his new team against his former team in the stadium of the team he always wanted to play for and then riding off into the sunset. If the NFL were actually scripted, is there genuinely any better story than that?