Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy were an incredible duo together once upon a time. From 2009 to 2016, they guided the Green Bay Packers to eight consecutive playoff appearances. That run of success included three NFC Championship appearances and a Super Bowl victory in 2010. They were undeniably one of the best QB-coach tandems in the NFL. However, many people seem to forget that towards the end of their time together, the two couldn’t stand each other. It is why McCarthy was ultimately fired.
Reasons for the friction were numerous. Rodgers grew frustrated with the coach’s static offensive system, not including more motion and other fresh concepts. It is why he changed so many plays at the line of scrimmage, which didn’t please McCarthy. As the Packers seemed to plateau and not repeat their championship success, the tension grew. With no one willing to mediate, things festered until the falling out finally happened.
This is why it was a genuine shock when the Pittsburgh Steelers hired McCarthy as their new head coach to replace Mike Tomlin. Why would they bring in somebody who has a complicated history with the quarterback they’re trying to keep another year? It felt like a questionable decision.
Thursday night in Cleveland reminded everybody why.
🔥 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel to hear Chicago legends tell stories you’ve never seen in headlines — real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.
Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy still hate each other.
Despite sitting at 2-1 going into the game, things took a sour turn late in the 1st quarter. Pittsburgh was on the edge of the red zone on 1st down. Things were moving fine. However, that changed as Rodgers waited for the next play call. When it didn’t come fast enough, he screamed at the sideline, “What the f**k? Call it!” McCarthy didn’t seem to appreciate that. As the quarterback turned to deliver the call to the huddle, the head coach was caught on camera seeming to say, “F**king a**hole.”
This only reinforces the questions about how all of this came to be. Aaron Rodgers hadn’t yet signed a new deal to return to Pittsburgh when the news dropped that McCarthy was taking over the team. He didn’t have to return. There is no way the quarterback didn’t have some reservations about a reunion. So why? The likely answer is that Rodgers wanted to play one more year, and the odds were that Pittsburgh was the only team willing to give him that. Most other teams around the league either had their quarterback or were looking to draft one. It was basically make it work with McCarthy or retire.
Rodgers is probably thinking he should’ve chosen the latter.
Right now, he is off to the worst start of his long career. Through four games, the future Hall of Famer has 7 touchdowns and 4 interceptions with an 81.6 passer rating. That is far below his previous career low of 90.5 in 2024 with the New York Jets. It would be incredibly fitting if McCarthy returned just in time to put one last tarnish on his legacy as one of the greatest of all time. Losing that game to Deshaun Watson and the Browns made it all the sweeter for fans who have loathed Rodgers for almost two decades.
Many see this as his 2010 Brett Favre moment. The two quarterbacks seem to share a legacy through eerie similarities. Both had immense early career success as starters. Both parted ways with their first head coach. Neither won a title after their first one, and each flirted with retirement on multiple occasions before ultimately getting traded to the Jets. Then both had a rebound year with a third team, Favre with the Vikings and Rodgers with the Steelers, before crashing and burning the next.
McCarthy may not like the losing, but some part of him has to be loving how much Rodgers is limping to the finish.
