The Steelers and Raiders were the rivalry of the 1970s in the NFL.
Five decades later, Pittsburgh defensive lineman Cameron Heyward is tweaking the motto of his franchise's historic rival -- Just win, baby -- as part of his recruiting pitch to bring back quarterback Aaron Rodgers for a second season.
"He's won the black and gold. Just return, baby!" Heyward said Friday on the . "That's all we need. I think he had a fun time being a part of this crew and we really enjoyed his company. I'd like to be able to run it back."
It's a change in tune for Heyward from last offseason, when the question of whether Rodgers would join the Steelers . Back then, Heyward earned headlines by frankly stating "either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don't" on his podcast several months ahead of the eventual union.
Heyward soon after clarified it would be "really cool" to have Rodgers join the squad and, in the end, Rodgers and Heyward did become teammates.
After a year of experiencing football with the four-time Most Valuable Player, one that included Pittsburgh's first AFC North title since 2020, Heyward holds no such hesitancy over joining forces again.
As has often been the case with Rodgers making decisions regarding his playing career during the latter stages of it, however, Heyward and the Steelers must continue waiting for now.
While there isn't necessarily a hard deadline, team owner Art Rooney II said on March 31 at the Annual League Meeting he expects an answer from Rodgers by the draft, which is now five days away.
Heyward didn't lean on that milestone as a potential date for when the Steelers might know for sure that Rodgers is returning or not.
"I don't know," he said when asked when he thought there'd be an answer. "But I think everybody is all in on him. For what we got to see this season, we were pleasantly surprised how great he was coming off of being on the Jets, to him just being a breath of fresh air of how he went about his business. Was accountable, held others accountable, loves the game, and just studies his ass off. I haven't seen many guys to that level of just knowing the insides and outs of football."
If Rodgers does decide to lace it up for 22nd NFL campaign and spend his age-43 season with the Steelers, Pittsburgh will still look plenty different. Mike McCarthy, Rodgers' old coach from the Packers, is in the saddle after Mike Tomlin stepped down. The team traded for Michael Pittman to complement DK Metcalf in the passing game, and by signing Rico Dowdle to pair with Jaylen Warren hopefully bolstered a running attack that was too anemic last season.
The clock is ticking, but things are falling into place to make a potential second year in the Steel City easier for Rodgers.
As for how Rodgers is going about coming to a decision, Heyward felt comfortable poking fun at some of the QB's previous off-the-field endeavors while theorizing about his process.
"He might be on a darkness retreat," Heyward said regarding where Rodgers could currently be. "He might be shooting season two of Enigma. Or he might just be getting ready for Jeopardy. My guy can do a lot of different things, but he'll be ready for the season hopefully."
