Aaron Rodgers faced some criticism for how he handled his offseason, waiting until June to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers after months of speculation and reports that he would land with the storied franchise.
One of his bigger critics just so happened to be a Steelers legend, Terry Bradshaw, who called it a "joke" that Pittsburgh was looking to sign Rodgers.
Rodgers had a chance to address Bradshaw's remarks on Saturday when speaking with NFL Network's Kyle Brandt during Back Together Weekend from training camp in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Rodgers first barked back with an amusing retort: "Well, I whisper to the gods every single day."
Then Rodgers explained that Bradshaw simply doesn't know him well enough on a personal level.
"I've known Terry for a long time, being a part of FOX," Rodgers said. "Terry's a legend. He's an absolute legend. He won four Super Bowls. He's had a legendary career in the media.
"But Terry, like a lot of people, doesn't know me. So he's got an idea of what he thinks about me based on what I've done, the documentary, what I've said, darkness retreat, whatever the hell you want to talk about."
This spring, with speculation about Rodgers joining the Steelers swelling, Bradshaw pulled no punches when talking about the idea of Rodgers coming to Pittsburgh.
"That's a joke. That is, just to me, is a joke," Bradshaw said in a radio interview with 103.7 The Buzz in Arkansas. "What are you going to do? Bring him in for one year, are you kidding me? That guy needs to stay in California. Go somewhere and chew on bark and whisper to the gods out there."
Rodgers told Brandt on Saturday that he embraced the idea of getting to know Bradshaw better and even extended an open invitation.
"I'd love to get to know Terry on a deeper level," Rodgers said, "and I feel like if he gave me a chance to get to know him then we'd have a good friendship because for me I have nothing but the utmost amount of respect and deference for what the greats have done because they laid the foundation for us to be able to play in this great game ...
"I'd love to get to know Terry on a deeper level if he's open to it. Maybe we can go chew some bark or whatever the hell he's talking about."
