Jerome Bettis Defends Pittsburgh Steelers’ Decision To Sign Aaron Rodgers

Jerome Bettis knows all about the expectations of being a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Hall of Fame running back — affectionately know as “The Bus” during his playing career — played 10 seasons in Pittsburgh (1996-2005), winning a Super Bowl at the conclusion of his career. During Bettis’ 10 seasons with the Steelers, Pittsburgh advanced to the playoffs six times, posted a winning record seven times and advanced to at least the conference championship game on four occasions.

While the Steelers routinely advanced deep into the playoffs during Bettis’ tenure in Pittsburgh, they’ve struggled to do so in recent seasons, failing to win a playoff game since the 2016 season. They hope that with the addition of four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, those fortunes will change.

“The expectation is always high, period,” says Bettis in a one-on-one interview. “That’s not even a question mark. I’m not expecting you to come in and be average. That’s never the expectation, because the standard has really been set. From that standpoint, what gave you the possibility to have a high standard in terms of not having that quarterback that you really need.

“It was one of those necessary evils to go out and try to find another quarterback that can give you the best chance for success,” Bettis continues to say. “There really wasn’t very many out there in the open market. Aaron Rodgers was the guy.”

Some ripped the decision to sign Rodgers due to him not wanting to participate in OTAs and due to the fact that he’s a 41-year-old quarterback that’s over three years removed from his last playoff appearance.

Bettis isn’t one of those people. The 53-year-old Steelers great says he agrees with Pittsburgh’s decision to sign Rodgers.

“A lot of people were saying, why would you wait? If you don’t wait, what’s your other options? You have none,” says Bettis. There’s no need to really make a decision — a rash decision — because the guy doesn’t want to go to some OTAs. And now you put your whole franchise at risk of a losing season and zero success, because you don’t want to wait for a guy for a couple weeks. This didn’t make sense to me. I thought they did the right thing in terms of giving themselves the best chance of having success.”

The Steelers have never suffered a losing season during head coach Mike Tomlin’s 18 years with the franchise. It’s an NFL record for consecutive non-losing seasons.

However, Pittsburgh has failed to advance deep into the playoffs in years. Outside of the fact that they haven’t won a postseason game since 2016, they’ve won just three playoff games since the start of the 2011 season.

The Steelers still have a number of star players, including on the defensive side of the ball including former Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt and 14-year veteran Cameron Heyward. Heyward is 36 years old while Watt will be 31 years old this season. In other words, time is running out for Pittsburgh’s veteran players, which is why they’re in win-now mode by signing a veteran quarterback — who is at the end of his career — to a one-year deal.

“There’s no guarantee that Aaron Rodgers will be a success — there is no guarantee,” says Bettis of Rodgers. “But we understand that that’s part of the deal. That comes with the territory every year. There’s no guarantee. You have a new team, and you have to develop it. Having Aaron Rodgers there creates a benefit.”

The Steelers recently traded for All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith from the Miami Dolphins, further cementing that they’re all-in to win this season after adding Rodgers. Ramsey will join stalwarts such as T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward on the defensive side of the ball.

“You’ve got a playoff-caliber defense and you’d be doing that team a disservice if you didn’t get the best possible player you can get at the quarterback position,” Bettis continues to say. “The last three or four years, it has been a lack of production at the quarterback position, so you got to try to address it the best way you can. I think they did.”

Jerome Bettis Opens Up On His Golf Game, Details Importance of American Century Championship

Bettis, who retired after winning the Super Bowl following the 2005 season, will be participating in the American Century Classic for the “15th, 16th or 17th time.” He considers himself to be a good golfer, but says his game tightens up when he plays in the biggest celebrity-filled golf tournament.

The tournament features over 80 athletes and celebrities, including the likes of Josh Allen, Davante Adams, John Smoltz, Grant Hill and Matthew Tkachuk. The event takes place in Lake Tahoe and is the 36th edition, beginning play in 1990.

“It’s been an incredible opportunity to get out and play,” says Bettis of playing in the tournament. “In terms of my golf game, it’s trending now. It’s been better some years, it’s good, but it’s challenging in tournament play. Put it this way, if I’m playing just with the guys, it’s really good.

“When you put the competition, you put the tournament, everything tightens up,” Bettis continues to say. “My game tightens up a little bit as well. That’s what I’m working on. Really expand that, but that’s part of the process. I have fun doing it and competing, so I plan to do it again this year.”

Bettis says his best finish in the tournament is 15th, a ranking he’s looking to improve upon as he enters this year’s tournament. The first day of the event is on July 9. He considers Tony Romo and Larry Fitzgerald to be his biggest competition among football players at the tournament. Romo has won the event three previous times. He says quarterbacks usually make good golfers and that he likes to compete with Fitzgerald.

“A guy like Tony Romo is always going to be at the top of the list in terms of football guys,” says Bettis. “But the key is not necessarily to be to compete one-on-one against guys. My goal is to have the best finishing score that I have. I finished 15th, that’s my highest finish. That was during the COVID year, and so my goal is to try to beat that 15 and get higher. Have more success each day. I do it incrementally, and not necessarily against this guy or that guy.”

The Hall of Fame running back says the best thing about the tournament is that it raises money for charities.

“One of the pieces to this that is always missed in all of this is that it’s been able to raise $8 million for charities in and around that Tahoe area and so that’s significant,” say Bettis. “It is changing a lot of lives and nobody’s really speaking of that part of it. Yes, it’s fun. We all have a great time. But it ultimately serves a purpose and it’s providing an opportunity to a lot of people that really need it.”