Photo: Justin K. Aller
A local Pittsburgh favorite has made a public recruiting pitch to Aaron Rodgers to join the Pittsburgh Steelers next season.
'Pittsburgh Dad' (@Pittsburgh_Dad) sent a special message to Rodgers during the quarterback's weekly 'Aaron Rodgers Tuesday' appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, one week after the reigning NFL MVP expressed his affinity for the Steel City, its residents, head coach Mike Tomlin and the popular social media personality himself.
"If you do ever want to come to Pittsburgh, we've got a lot to offer," Pittsburgh Dad said in his recruitment pitch. "For example, we put fries on everything. They'll even put 'em in your Blizzard down at Dairy Queens [sic]. And secondly, you're never more than two minutes away from cell phone repair or a vape shop that used to be a Pizza Hut.
"You like Jeopardy! right? 'The Steelers can offer this to Aaron Rodgers in terms of pass protection.' (Mimics hitting button) 'What is a wet paper towel?' Jeez, Louise. (Buzzer) Sorry, 'what is jeez, Louise.'"
Prior to leading the Packers to a 27-17 victory against the Steelers last Sunday (October 3), Rodgers mentioned 'Pittsburgh Dad' specifically when discussing his affinity for the Steel City with McAfee, a native of nearby Plum, Pennsylvania, last Tuesday (September 28).
"I've been around a lot of Pittsburgh people over the years and I have loved my time with all of them," Rodgers said. "I've learned to speak the language really well, which has actually allowed me to follow and become a big fan of 'Pittsburgh Dad.' If you haven't seen Pittsburgh Dad on Twitter, big 'shaht aht.'
"Some incredible, incredible, incredible videos that, for someone, whether you live in Pittsburgh, you live in Pennsylvania, you know somebody from Pittsburgh, you can appreciate the videos so much because you know people who talk like that, who, you know, annunciate like that and that was most of my career with [former Packers coach and Pittsburgh native] Mike [McCarthy] in the headset just trying to figure out what the hell he was saying."
"It's a great blue-collar town," Rodgers added. "There's a lot of great people that live there, it's got a great history, that city."
Rodgers also praised Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, crediting his longevity during his 15th NFL season as one of the league's longest-tenured coaches.
"I have a ton of respect for Mike, I think he's a fantastic coach," Rodgers said. "I love the way that he leads, I love the way that he talks after the games. He always seems to keep things really even-keeled and it looks like he's somebody that the players love playing for him."
Rodgers and Tomlin had a playful exchange during Sunday's game in which they shared head nods, which Rodgers reiterated he had "a lot of respect" for the veteran head coach when discussing the interaction during his postgame press conference via Sports Illustrated.
Rodgers' displeasure with the Packers' organization was the biggest topic of the NFL offseason prior to his return to the team and a brutally honest press conference addressing several of his issues.
The 37-year-old is set to test free agency next offseason, which could coincide with Ben Roethlisberger's possible retirement, as he's currently also in the final year of a reworked deal.
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