Aaron Rodgers, now with Steelers, passes on reflecting on his time with Jets

The whitewashing of the Jets from Aaron Rodgers’ memory has begun.

That much was clear when the future Hall of Famer met with the media in his new home, Pittsburgh, on Tuesday afternoon, just a few days after signing a one-year deal with the Steelers and after participating (albeit very limitedly) in a mandatory minicamp practice.

“There are a few iconic franchises in the NFL,” Rodgers said when asked why he wanted to play for the Steelers. “I played for one of them for 18 years. This is another one of those.”

Hmmm. No mention of the two years in between?

Nor would he even say the word “Jets” when asked why this season could be different than the previous two in New York that resulted in six victories . . . one of them a game in which he left with a torn Achilles four plays in.

“I’m not going to take any shots at my previous organization if that’s what you are trying to get me to do,” he said, sniffing out the subtext like he would a blitzing safety.

That’s cool. He’s welcome to ignore his stint here. Heck, the Jets are just as adamant about moving on from him as he seems to be about distancing himself from them.

But listening to and watching the way Rodgers was introduced to Pittsburgh, it was hard not to compare it to the fanfare with which he strolled into the big glass building in Florham Park just 26 short months ago . . . and see the impact that tenure made on him.

There was no auditorium. No hype video. No snazzy suits or photo-op handshakes with the team brass. Instead, the first look at Rodgers with the Steelers came as he trotted onto the practice field in the early afternoon. As for the “press conference,” it lacked the operatic production values the Jets put together. The Steelers simply put him in front of a backdrop, lined up the microphones, and they were off and running. Rodgers was still wearing his practice jersey for the event. Didn’t even shower.

The way he spoke, too, signaled that he had at least learned a little something from his Jets experiences.

When he arrived in Florham Park it was all about teaching the Jets to win, about giving that one “lonely” Lombardi Trophy in the lobby a friend. It was clear to everyone — players, coaches, management — that Rodgers had come to break the forlorn franchise free of its laughingstock status. He was the leader and it was going to be up to the others to follow him to glory.

Tuesday brought a very different narrative. While he did address the team privately in the morning, in front of the cameras he refused to be the spokesman for the group in any way.

“I just want to be a servant leader here and pass on the knowledge that I have from 20 years, the experience, and just try to fit in with the guys, get to know them, let them get to know me, and just enjoy the process,” he said.

Later, when asked what he wants to prove this season, he said: “I don’t need it for my ego . . .  A lot of decisions I have made over my career and life from strictly the ego, even if they turn out well, are always unfulfilling. But the decisions made from the soul are usually pretty fulfilling. This was a decision that was best for my soul.”

He didn’t say which past decisions were ego driven, but we can certainly imagine.

He spoke about his many ties to Pittsburgh and its progenies, from other Hall of Fame quarterbacks hailing from Western Pennsylvania to former coaches and teammates such as Mike McCarthy, Ben McAdoo and Dom Capers who have roots in the area.

And when the question of what winning a Super Bowl in Pittsburgh might mean, Rodgers said: “It would mean a seventh championship for the city, right? That’d be great.”

Clearly Rodgers has changed. About the only real news he made on Tuesday was an acknowledgment that he is now married . . . and has been for the past few months.

Somehow his time in New York did produce a ring.

We’ll see how much of that actually sticks and what kind of passenger Rodgers can be when others are driving the bus.

When it comes to Rodgers and the Jets, though, it won’t be that easy to ignore their mutual recent pasts. Certainly not when Rodgers’ first game with the Steelers figures to be the opener against the Jets, a game at MetLife Stadium that has undoubtedly left the league and its networks scrambling for loopholes to flex Week 1 contests to prime-time slots.

Despite their chilly farewell, which Rodgers recounted in April during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Rodgers still has a shadow in New Jersey beyond that upcoming date. Linebacker Jermaine Johnson said on Tuesday that he had texted with Rodgers as recently as Monday night. The two share the experience of recovering from torn Achilles.

“When we get between those lines, there are no friends,” Johnson said.

Tight end Jeremy Ruckert said he hadn’t given the matchup much thought . . . but he is certain Rodgers has.

“Anybody that knows him knows that will be in the back of his mind,” Ruckert said of exacting his revenge. “But he’s a Hall of Famer and he’ll be ready to play. We were around him for two years, we know how he thinks, and how he is going to approach the game.”

Besides that early September collision that we will nag both sides about until they leave the field that Sunday, it’s clear Rodgers is just as eager to forget about the Jets as the Jets were to move on from him in that brief meeting with Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey.

He has a new home now. A new team. A new congregation to preach his views to. And a new legacy to try to rebuild.

“I have a lot that motivates me,” Rodgers said, “but this is about the love of the game, the game that has given me so much over the years, and making peace with a nice long career.”

A career that now includes time with two of the NFL’s most iconic and successful franchises . . . and, whether he acknowledges it or not, another one, too, which he promised to turn into one but failed.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.