Steelers’ Mike McCarthy regrets profane exchange with Aaron Rodgers
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was upset.
His coach, Mike McCarthy, was annoyed.
Both men used NSFW language toward each other that was picked up by Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” cameras and/or microphones.
The exchange took during the Steelers’ first drive in their eventual 27-24 road loss to the Cleveland Browns. Before a first down play from the Cleveland 20-yard line, Rodgers could be seen staring at the Pittsburgh sideline with his arms spread out, apparently waiting to receive the play from McCarthy.
Then the four-time league MVP exploded.
“What the f—?” Rodgers screamed toward the sideline. “Call it!”
The broadcast then cut to a shot of McCarthy, who could be seen saying the words, “f— a—hole,” in apparent reference to his quarterback.
Asked about that moment during his postgame news conference, McCarthy expressed regret for the language he used.
“I think what’s said on the field, the way I grew up in this game, usually stays on the field,” McCarthy said. “That’s not the case today, I understand that. But any negative communication on my part, I wish I wouldn’t use those words.”
Later in the same drive, Rodgers appeared to shake his head and roll his eyes while waiting for a play to be called. Speaking to reporters after the game, he indicated that the crowd noise affected the communication between the sideline and field.
“It was loud,” Rodgers said, “so some of the calls, it was hard to hear, for sure.”
The “TNF” cameras did catch a much more pleasant interaction between the two men, after the 42-year-old veteran kept the ball on a 1-yard sneak for a successful 2-point conversion to tie the game at 24-24 late in the fourth quarter.
McCarthy coached the Green Bay Packers from 2006 to 2018 and Rodgers was his starting quarterback for 11 of those seasons. During that stretch, they led the team to one Super Bowl victory (against the Steelers) and four NFC championship game appearances. Rodgers also earned two of his four NFL MVP awards during McCarthy’s tenure.
There was some well-documented tension between the two men during that time as well. But Rodgers has cited the Steelers’ hiring of McCarthy this offseason as a reason he decided to put off retirement for one more year.
“I’d gone into the offseason thinking it was probably going to be it, and I’d be totally fine with it — I feel good about my career,” Rodgers told The Athletic in August. “But once he got hired, then my mindset changed a little bit.”
He added: “Absence makes the heart grow much fonder, in this case.”
McCarthy said in the same article: “Just to be able to take this final lap with him, it’s awesome. You always want to do a great job, but now to do it with him in his last chapter, it’s special.”