“12 wasn’t really on the table”: NFL fans react to Aaron Rodgers' jersey number for the Pittsburgh Steelers

Aaron Rodgers is officially back. The veteran quarterback has now signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, confirming that he'll be around for one more season. After months of speculation that included retirement talks, NFL fans will get to see Rodgers playing for at least one more year.

But the veteran quarterback will have a different number once he's playing for the Steelers. Just as it happened with the New York Jets, he'll have to wear the number 8, which gives different vibes from what he used to wear with the Green Bay Packers.

After Rodgers officially signed his contract, and his jersey number was revealed, NFL fans reacted to the fact that he'll not be #12 with the Steelers.

"Because 12 wasn’t really on the table", said one fan.

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"Doesn’t look right at all", said another fan.

"Yeah we figured. Although I would’ve erased any reference to the Jets if it was me", said another fan.

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Why Aaron Rodgers is not allowed to wear #12 with the Jets and the Steelers

Although he has made this number legendary in Green Bay, it was not available for him to wear in his new teams. That's because their #12 number was already retired.

The Jets have retired the #12 jersey in honor of former quarterback Joe Namath, who guided the franchise to their Super Bowl III win over the Indianapolis Colts, the only Jets' Super Bowl win to this day. Namath played for the team between 1965 and 1976 before finishing his career with the Los Angeles Rams.

The #12 jersey in Pittsburgh isn't officially retired. However, it was worn by Terry Bradshaw from 1970 to 1983 and he became a legendary quarterback for the franchise, winning four Super Bowls during the span. Both Namath and Bradshaw are members of the Hall of Fame.

Rodgers switched to #8 because that was the number he used to wear in college while playing for the California Golden Bears. Although he didn't have much success wearing #8 with the New York Jets, he'll hope to flip the script in his new team in what could be his final years in the league.

About the author

Henrique Bulio is an NFL and College Football journalist at Sportskeeda and the Editor-in-Chief of Pro Football Brasil. He has a total 13 years of experience working in American Football, and playing quarterback at an amateur level in Brazil has given him a unique perspective of the game.

Henrique follows the Philadelphia Eagles closely due to Michael Vick's historic performance on MNF against the Washington Commanders in 2010. His all-time favorite player is Ed Reed; he believes that Reed is the greatest safety to ever play the game. Bill Belichick gets the nod as Henrique's favorite coach for coaching the Patriots to glory over two decades.

If Henrique were to be able to go back in time and watch one game, it would be Super Bowl XLIX, where the Patriots and the Seahawks played a complete, back-and-forth game that concluded with one of the biggest talking points in NFL history.

Technical deep dives are Henrique’s specialty, and he ensures never to use misleading words in his articles, since he himself consumes a lot of information off the web. He has had the privilege of interviewing Cairo Santos, Lamar Jackson, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, Bruce Arians, Matt LaFleur, among others.

Aside from football, Henrique likes to play poker and Counter-Strike.

Know More

Steelers Fans! Check out the latest Pittsburgh Steelers Schedule and dive into the Steelers Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.

Edited by Henrique Bulio