Steelers Now
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Aaron Rodgers climbed up a few all-time leaderboards during the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 21-14 road win over the New England Patriots on Sunday. More so than his statistical rank improving, the 21-year veteran quarterback is happy to be in the same conversation as the guys he passed.
By way of a 12-yard connection with DK Metcalf in the second quarter, Rodgers leaped over former Green Bay Packers teammate Brett Favre for the fourth-most passing touchdowns (509) in NFL history. He surpassed Philip Rivers for the sixth-most passing yards in league lore with a 21-yard throw to Jonnu Smith in the frame prior.
The four-time Associated Press NFL MVP and future Pro Football Hall of Famer currently has 63,478 career passing yards, but he downplayed the milestones.
“It means I played a long time,” Rodgers said afterward. “I grew up, and (49ers) quarterbacks were my favorite, and then Brett. And I got to play with Brett. I was drafted the year after Philip Rivers. Had a friendship through the game with him for years. Loved watching Phil play, just his mannerisms, his lack of swearing, trash talk. Phil was one guy I really enjoyed watching on tape, and the only guy to get out of the Pro Bowl with an excuse that he had his eighth or ninth kid right before that.
“Good to be mentioned with those guys.”
Rodgers also found Calvin Austin III for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:16 to go. He sits at 510 touchdown passes for his odyssey, 30 shy of overshadowing Peyton Manning. He’s 611 passing yards from surpassing Steelers icon Ben Roethlisberger for the fifth-most ever.
Metcalf wasn’t aware of Rodgers’ air strikes accomplishment. He said the ball eventually wound up with his seasoned signal-caller.
“Shit, I didn’t know. But I took it to the sideline and gave it to our ball boy,” Metcalf said.
As for the score itself, the hulking wideout had an idea it was on its way.
“He told me to look. I had a fade route. He told me to look and be ready for the ball,” Metcalf said. “And after my release, I looked up and the ball was coming.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Aaron Rodgers Reacts to Passing Icons on NFL All-Time List
