After an abysmal primetime performance, hope still resides in Pittsburgh after the Steelers won the Asante Samuel Jr. sweepstakes. The defense desperately needed a boost at cornerback after the Darisu Slay experiment turned out sour results.
It will be some time before Samuel can make an impact, so in the meantime, he’s bound to get familiar with this situation he’s heading into. Yes, the Steelers needed some help defensively, but the real concerns about the team are on the offensive side.
With the whole world watching, Aaron Rodgers showed his age Sunday night, and that has drawn criticisms from around the league, including the newest Steelers’ father.
Asante Samuel Sr. claims Aaron Rodgers’ age is holding the Pittsburgh Steelers back
Samuel’s father, Asante Samuel Sr., who played 11 seasons in the NFL, most notably with the New England Patriots, where he was an All-Pro and a two-time Super Bowl champion, and the Philadelphia Eagles. These days, the famed corner hosts a podcast called Say What Needs To Be Said, and recently on that podcast, he said Rodgers is “too old.”
“I think Aaron Rodgers is too old,” Samuel said while briefly discussing the Steelers' Super Bowl chances. “He doesn’t want to get tackled or hit like he used to back in the day. Yeah, I think Aaron Rodgers is killing that team.”
To be fair to Samuel’s point, it was separate from his enthusiasm for his son joining the team overall. At the top of his show, he expressed excitement for where his son landed after being out of football for over a year.
“It’s a good situation for me, I like coach Mike Tomlin. I think he’s a good leader, you know, he guides men in the right direction,” Samuel said.
Clearly, though, Samuel Sr., who is just over four years older than Rodgers, doesn’t see his son playing in a Super Bowl with his new team this season.
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There has been doubt about Rodgers’ ability to play at a comparable level to his Green Bay Packers days since he left his original NFL home. Earlier in the season, Rodgers put some of that doubt to rest with his play, showing that he could still be efficient in or out of the pocket and come through in the red zone. But his awful outing against the Chargers in Week 10 undid all of that.
It’s a long season, still seven games to go before we get into a postseason that could still feature the Steelers. But whether or not Yinzers can feel good about such an appearance will be influenced in part by Rodgers and how much he shows his age through the remainder of November and December.