PITTSBURGH — Aaron Rodgers thought it would be a gathering with a group of teammates. Instead, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback spent a night hanging out with fellow old-timer Cam Heyward.
One with buckets of popcorn and a sci-fi flick on the big screen.
"Cam invited me to a movie night a while back and said it was a big team function. I showed up, I was the only player there," Rodgers said on Wednesday. "On a Tuesday night, too, which is like, we've got an early Wednesday morning, the quarterbacks, with our meeting with Mike. So I was like, 'Fine, I love team-bonding, chemistry stuff.' I show up, I see him and his son. … I'm like, 'Alright, cool.'
"I'm looking around, I go, 'Where's everybody at?' So then he texted me a couple of nights ago and said there was something on Monday night. And I said, 'Is this gonna be like the last one?'"
Turns out, Heyward didn't have any elaborate plan to hang out with just the four-time Associated Press NFL MVP. The sparse attendance the first time Rodgers tagged along was a one-off. Heyward also invites friends, neighbors and members of the Steelers' staff to the movie theater.
"I invited everybody," Heyward said, clarifying after Thursday's practice, of the excursion to see "Tron: Ares." "It was just (that) he showed up. He didn't show up for the next one, but other players did. I find movies throughout the year that guys wanna see, and they come when they can. … It kinda threw him for a loop."
Rodgers, 41, is the oldest active player in the NFL. Heyward, 36, was the oldest to suit up for the Steelers before the quarterback came along.
"I really appreciate his leadership," Rodgers said. "He's a guy who knows how to use his voice at the right times. His play has been stellar, I think. … He's a steady guy. I like to razz him from time to time because I'm a little more, maybe chipper, would you say, in the mornings than he is. But I'm really fortunate to play with Cam Heyward ."
So what has Heyward learned about his fellow statesman?
"He's old," Heyward said Thursday before practice with a straight face, knowing Rodgers was within earshot at his locker. "He's always been about the team, and whatever's misconstrued outside of there, it's been fun to really just get to know him. He's been bought in since he got here. We joke off the field, but we do challenge each other.
"We try to make sure … we have the right pulse of the team. I think it's just about communicating and making sure we can go forward."
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Elder Statesmen Heyward, Rodgers Form Surprising Bond
Related Headlines
