Steelers Now
UNITY TWP, Pa. – After Saturday’s practice at St. Vincent College, Pittsburgh Steelers strong safety DeShon Elliott cleared the air on his “leave his ass at the retirement home” Instagram comment about Aaron Rodgers this offseason. He said he was just trolling, and he issued an apology to Rodgers when they first met.
“I’m a (social media) troll,” Elliott admitted. “He’s an All-Pro, and he’s a GOAT. He’s going to be a gold jacket guy one day. Honestly, when he got here, we communicated, we talked. He’s a great person and a great ballplayer. Whatever the media put out there is BS. I respect him a lot.
“I told him that I respect him, and I apologized to him for the things I was saying about him because, honestly, he’s a great man. He has a great heart, so I appreciate him, and he’s funny as hell.
“I’m sarcastic, too, so we’re very similar in certain ways. At first, I can see why we were butting heads, but now we’re really good friends at this point.”
There’s a narrative attached to Rodgers that he isn’t the best teammate, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. New York Jets running back Breece Hall recently said in June on the Da Get Got Pod with Marshawn Lynch and Mike Robinson that the four-time NFL MVP was phenomenal in New York.
“Very misunderstood person,” Hall said. “Great dude, comes off to people a certain way. But once you really get to know him, you realize how good of a person he is. Last year, when you’re losing games, the blame gets put on the faces of the team, and it just so happened to be guys like me, Sauce [Gardner], Garrett [Wilson], Aaron [Rodgers], Quinnen [Williams], and Quincy [Williams].
“I feel like when you’re losing, somebody has to get let go — but what people don’t realize is when stuff is crazy organizationally, then it’s hard for players to have stability and win games. … But I love Aaron. Me and him still have a great relationship to this day. That’s my guy.”
So far, Rodgers has been developing a close bond with his teammates in Pittsburgh, as well. Earlier this summer, Rodgers hosted several of his new playmakers down in Malibu for a workout, and it’s safe to say they came away very impressed.
Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III was among those in attendance and he couldn’t help but praise the four-time NFL MVP’s knowledge of the game.
“His mindset is, ‘We’re going to do this because I know what the defense is gonna do and they don’t wanna do this.’ You see that experience, and playing with a Hall of Fame quarterback, it’s gonna be special. Sometimes, you can be given too much,” Austin said to Action News 5. “But he lets you play football.”
Alan Saunders and Brendan Howe provided reporting from St. Vincent College.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: [Steelers Safety DeShon Elliott Apologizes to...
