While the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers don't play one another all that often, it always seems special when these two get together, given what these historic franchises have accomplished over the years, combining to win 45 division titles, 17 conference championships, and 10 Super Bowls.
This Sunday night will mark the 38th meeting between the two clubs (Green Bay holds a 20-17 all-time lead, by the way), and this particular matchup holds some special significance, as longtime Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will take on his former team for the first and likely only time in his career.
Rodgers, of course, spent 18 seasons in Green Bay and is arguably the greatest signal-caller in franchise history, earning four NFL MVPs, 10 Pro Bowl selections, five All-Pro nods, a Super Bowl victory (over none other than the Steelers), and a Super Bowl MVP trophy.
And if the 41-year-old, who just made a little history in Week 7 by cracking the top five on the NFL's all-time passing yards list, can get a win over the Packers on Sunday night, he'll once again add to his list of career accolades by becoming just the fifth quarterback to defeat all 32 current NFL franchises.
Aaron Rodgers clearly wants to join the exclusive club that Brett Favre started
The charter member of this exclusive club was yet another Green Bay legend, Brett Favre, who became the first to defeat all 32 current teams at Rodgers' expense, as he led his Minnesota Vikings to a 30-23 victory over the Packers on October 5, 2009.
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Since then, Favre has been joined by Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady, who became the most recent member of the group in leading his Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a win in his first and only career meeting against the New England Patriots on October 3, 2021.
Rodgers has downplayed the meeting with the Packers a bit, admitting in an interview in August that he might be a little more excited if the game were being played at Lambeau Field. That said, however, he still said there would be plenty of energy in Pittsburgh come Sunday night and also slipped in that he'd enjoy becoming the newest member of this elite club.
"It is just another game,” Rodgers said. "Obviously, there's energy around it, kind of outside of yourself, but it doesn't make or break your career. It'll be fun to beat them, for sure, because I would've beaten every team, and because you're trying to win all your games. Either way, it'll be good to see so many people."
It was a subtle nod to the feat, but it was obviously there.
The Packers, of course, would love to deny Rodgers this little piece of history, especially given the way his 18-year run in Green Bay ended. One would think the two sides will eventually reconcile, but Sunday will certainly not be that day, and we now just have to wait and see how this potentially historic matchup plays out.