Steelers Now
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was not happy about the narrative floating around that he called out the Steelers’ brass for the team’s travel schedule to Ireland.
If it was up to Rodgers, the team would’ve left earlier in the week. But it wasn’t a jab at the Steelers’ decision, it was solely about Rodgers wanting to see more of Ireland and soak it all in.
“Well, ESPN wrote a clickbait headline, I think, taking my words out of context, which isn’t the first time,” Rodgers said in his postgame interview after the Steelers’ 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin. “But I was answering a question about my desire, all three times we came overseas, was to come early in the week. Especially if you have a bye week afterwards. Some of that is out of the control of the teams, some of it might be. But I would always love to get in the time frame that you’re in, time zone, and get to enjoy the area a little bit more. Especially with Ireland, the history of ancestors that I had from this region, but also just hearing about the country and what it’s like, and being able to see some stuff would have been great. That is obviously not the focus. It’s a business trip. We understand that. But being the older guy, being around a long time, I just would have loved one time out of these three to have an entire week to do it. But again no complaints about the three days we’ve spent, only desires for more time with you great Irish people.”
On Friday, Steelers president Art Rooney II explained the team’s decision to leave late in the week to Ireland. The Steelers arrived to the Emerald Isle a little after 8 a.m. local time Friday.
“It was a football decision. I would’ve liked to have had the guys over here for a few more days, too. But we’re in the middle of the season, so we’ve got to do what’s best for the football side of things. … We work with the league, too. So it’s sort of a joint discussion,” Rooney told reporters in Ireland.
The Steelers’ opponent, the Vikings, also arrived to Ireland around 8 a.m. local time.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin felt confident in the Steelers’ travel plan for Ireland.
“It’s been a long time for me individually. … There’s been a lot of organizations since then that have traveled (internationally). Procedurally, it’s less mystical I think. Procedure is more global. There’s more shared information about how to best pull off these trips,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “We have that information, the Vikings have that information. I think it’s a less of a discussion topic in today’s game than it was in (2013) when we went to London.”
“We are doing some things to acclimate ourselves to the trip. We are working early this week to start the body clock transition process. We certainly have some...
