If not for Mike Tomlin, Aaron Rodgers’ career might already be over.

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback told SiriusXM NFL Radio that Pittsburgh’s former head coach helped him rekindle his love for football.

Rodgers said that after his stellar 15-year run as the Green Bay Packers‘ starting quarterback, his next stop – a two-year stint with the New York Jets – provided more hardship than he had faced earlier in his career. Rodgers suffered an Achilles tear on the night of his Jets debut. He said even after the following year of rehab to get back to football action, he was “never feeling like myself” when he returned.

“It just kind of beats you up a little bit,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t want that to be my ending in the game that I love so much.”

Though Rodgers said his stint with the Jets was ultimately “a good learning experience” and that he was thankful for the time there, it was his time with Tomlin in Pittsburgh last year that convinced him to keep playing.

“I’m thankful for last year with Coach Tomlin,” Rodgers said,” because he helped me get that love back – that deep love back for the game. … Mike and being around the guys got me that love back.”

Ultimately, Rodgers was so satisfied by his time with the Steelers in 2025 that he would have been content to retire, he said.

But when Tomlin stepped down this offseason, Pittsburgh hired Mike McCarthy – the former Packers head coach who won a Super Bowl with Rodgers in Green Bay – as its new head coach. That convinced the 42-year-old quarterback to give himself one more year before calling it a career.

“Maybe we need a full circle here. Me and Mike (McCarthy) need a full circle here,” he said.