Despite Optics, NFL Says It Didn't Get Inside Information On Aaron Rodgers To Set Steelers Schedule

The NFL doesn't know whether Aaron Rodgers is going to eventually sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers. No one does except, maybe, Rodgers himself. So in setting the Steelers' schedule the league didn't consider Rodgers.

All that is if you believe what the NFL is saying.

"Look, I think the assumption right now is you play the hand you're dealt, and Aaron Rodgers is not the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers," NFL VP of broadcasting and scheduling Mike North told reporters on a conference call on Thursday.

Aaron Rodgers acknowledges that the New York Jets may just be cursed. David Butler II-Imagn Images

Optics Suggest NFL Knows Something

Wait.

The NFL scheduled the Steelers to visit the New York Jets in the regular-season opener for both teams on Sept. 7. That matchup, right from the top, practically screams revenge game for Rodgers, who spent the past two years with the Jets and left under less than amicable circumstances.

And the NFL didn't think about that in giving the Steelers four nationally televised games and putting the possible revenge game in its biggest media market in the leadoff spot to start the season? 

"There's sustained success for over a decade here," North insisted. "Coach [Mike] Tomlin has never had a losing season. The Steelers are always playoff-relevant going down the stretch, and they have a national fan base.

"So their body of work is what warranted the national television exposure for them, same as probably in previous years."

No Inside Information For NFL

North made the point that if the NFL really had inside information about Rodgers joining the Steelers, that Week 1 game at 1 p.m. might not have been the move, suggesting the game would have gotten more attention.

"Obviously, Pittsburgh-Jets in Week 1, I think if we knew for certain," he said, "we might have done something a little different."

Hmmmm. That's fine.

But what about that game between the Steelers and Green Bay Packers? 

The NFL scheduled that game on a Sunday night as the premier standalone game of Week 8. Rodgers played 18 years for Green Bay, where he won four MVP awards, and helped the team win a Super Bowl.

Rodgers Against Packers Would Be Juicy

Is the NFL going to seriously say that Rodgers being part of that game in front of the entire nation didn't cross anyone's mind?

"Obviously, if a future Hall of Fame quarterback decides to play for the Steelers, that probably only makes their schedule only more interesting," North said. "If you put that game in a window where it does become something even bigger, we wouldn't want to unbalance maybe one of the partners.

"So, if it fell on a Sunday afternoon for instance, it becomes a dominant story of the day. Aaron's first game against his old team. So put it in a national window. If Aaron's the quarterback, it's a great story. If Aaron's not the quarterback, it's still Packers-Steelers 'Sunday Night Football' in Week 8.

"We tried to play it down the middle. We don't know anything more than anybody else. The schedule is built for coach Tomlin and for the Steelers. If Aaron decides to play, it probably makes many, if not all, the Steelers games more interesting."

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

NFL Definitely Has Rooting Interest

Fine. We're going to take the NFL's word for all this. But perhaps journalists on the conference call were perhaps asking the wrong questions.

Maybe the right question should have been whether the NFL is actively rooting for Rodgers to decide on playing for the Steelers? 

That answer would almost definitely be yes.