Oh, what could have been.
For the second straight season, Aaron Rodgers will face the Green Bay Packers in a game.
But for the second straight season, the game won't be in Green Bay and that disappoints the four-time NFL MVP.
"100 percent, 100 percent," Rodgers said when asked if he wishes the Pittsburgh Steelers' preseason game on Thursday, Aug. 13 would have been at Lambeau Field. "When I heard it was possible to play both my former teams, I was really hoping this one was going to be in Green Bay."
Rodgers held a Zoom call with local reporters in Wisconsin and he expressed how he was "definitely bummed out" the game is in Pittsburgh and not Green Bay, where he spent the first 18 years of his career.
He has announced he's retiring after the 2026 season.
The NFL schedule was announced in May, including the preseason games, before Rodgers declared his intentions about whether he was going to return.
Rodgers said that, beyond playing inside Lambeau one final time, he'd have liked checking in with old friends at the stadium, going out to Chives for dinner in Suamico and getting a round in at the Green Bay Country Club.
"I was really hoping it was going to be in Green Bay for a lot of reasons," he said.
While he recognized it would have been "strange" to be in the opposing locker room, he would have relished seeing trainers and equipment staff personnel that he said "I really care about."
Rodgers said Chives, his house and the golf courses are some of the many things he's missing about Wisconsin, a place that became his home from the time he was in his early 20s to his upper 30s.
"The fall (seasons) there are just awesome," Rodgers said. "Loved the night games at Lambeau. There’s nothing like that crowd, nothing like that fan base. Players (around the league) talk about how special it is to play at Lambeau. A lot of great things about Wisconsin. I grew up there, became a little more mature as an adult. A lot of close friends."
Rodgers' last game at Lambeau Field while wearing a Packers uniform came in the regular-season finale during the 2022 season.
It came in a Week 18 loss to the Detroit Lions on "Sunday Night Football." A win for the Packers would have put them in the playoffs. Instead, they had a crushing 20-16 loss and Rodgers' last pass was an interception late in the fourth quarter.
He was traded to the New York Jets that offseason. The Jets didn't play the Packers during his two years in New York, in 2023 and 2024.
Rodgers played the Packers before a nationally televised audience for "Sunday Night Football" last season in Pittsburgh, where Green Bay defeated his Steelers, 35-25.
The 2026 season will be his last rodeo. And everyone he encountered in Green Bay tops the list on what he'll cherish the most.
“Definitely the people I got to do it with,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Aaron Rodgers 'bummed' preseason game vs Packers isn't at Lambeau Field
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