Steelers

Pittsburgh are six-time Super Bowl winners – a record they share with the New England Patriots – and their defence of the 1970s became known as the Steel Curtain.

The franchise has continued to be renowned for its defence and this would have been a performance to make proud the Steelers’ late president Dan Rooney, who was the US ambassador to Ireland from 2009 to 2012.

Minnesota earned more first downs, more yards and had more time in possession, yet back-up quarterback Carson Wentz was stifled by the Steelers throughout.

The 32-year-old was sacked six times and intercepted twice, and the second of those picks – by TJ Watt late in the third quarter – drew one of the biggest cheers of the day as the Steelers’ star linebacker raced to the sideline and booted the ball into the Croke Park crowd.

Rodgers said Pittsburgh’s offence is still a work in progress after the four-time MVP and star receiver Metcalf were brought in during the off-season, and he said on Friday that the “next big improvement will be the run game, getting over 100 yards”.

Their previous best this season was 72, but they managed 131 in Dublin, with Gainwell registering 99 himself, while Rodgers and Metcalf connected for the kind of highlight-reel play the Steelers hope they will produce time and again this season.

Veteran Rodgers completed an impressive 18 passes from 22 attempts for 200 yards, but it was Pittsburgh’s defence that again stepped up as Minnesota threatened a fightback in the final minute.

It was reminiscent of the team’s golden era and raised hope of Mike Tomlin’s men mounting a play-off push this season after improving their record to 3-1.

“It’s an honour to represent American football here in Dublin,” said coach Tomlin. “It was just a great trip.

“We made it a little more entertaining than maybe it should have been, but the Vikings had a lot to do with that. That group’s got a lot of fight.”

“The hype was off the charts,” says New York-based sportswriter Ian O’Connor.

He already felt that Rodgers was the “most compelling and polarising figure” in the NFL and his bid to win a championship for “a loser-ville franchise in the NFL’s biggest market” inspired him to write a Rodgers biography., external

O’Connor had followed the Jets’ sorry search for a successor to legendary quarterback Joe Namath, which had turned them into a laughing stock. They have failed to reach the post-season since 2011, the longest current play-off drought in the NFL.

But, after 18 years and a Super Bowl win with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers was ready to swap the NFL’s smallest market for the Big Apple and relished his new lifestyle.

He made numerous public appearances and Jets fans warmed to their new star after seeing how he was portrayed in the Hard Knocks series, which followed the Jets’ training camp.

“I’ve been covering sports in New York for almost four decades and I’ve never seen a superstar athlete from another market embracing New York like Aaron Rodgers did,” O’Connor told BBC Sport. “It was a total love-fest.

“Jets fans couldn’t get enough of it. New Yorkers really embraced him and didn’t care about his vaccine views or conspiracy theories.

“They didn’t care about anything except his football talent and the chance to see the Jets reach the Super Bowl for the first time since Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon (1969).

“To have that ripped away four plays into the season, it was a tough night. I was in the building and I’ve never been more heart-sick for an athlete and a fanbase.”

Without Rodgers, the Jets finished the 2023 season with a 7-10 record and although he returned last year, head coach Robert Saleh was sacked as the Jets slumped to 5-12.

O’Connor said that Rodgers planned for “two healthy seasons with the Jets”. He got just one as, in February, new coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey said they wanted to go “in a different direction”.

In a swap of former All-Pro defensive backs on Monday, the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith from the Miami Dolphins for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a draft pick swap.

Ramsey posted about the trade, which includes the Steelers’ 2027 fifth-round pick to the Dolphins in exchange for a seventh-round pick, on social media. “Breaking my own news!” he wrote alongside a celebratory announcement video on Instagram.

The deal ended persistent speculation that Ramsey might be traded to the Rams, for whom he played from 2019-22. At the Rams’ mini-camp in Maui two weeks ago, coach Sean McVay downplayed the chance of acquiring the three-time All-Pro, who is due to earn $26.6 million this season. Ramsey’s salary-cap number will increase substantially in the next few seasons, according to Overthecap.com.

“Usually, those are scenarios and situations that you have to have plans in place prior to executing some of the decisions that have occurred,” McVay said, perhaps referencing the contract adjustment that quarterback Matthew Stafford received and the signing of free-agent receiver Davante Adams. “Definitely don’t want to rule anything out … but there would be some obstacles that are real that are in the place of maybe preventing that from occurring.”

Rams cornerbacks include returning starters Darious Williams and Ahkello Witherspoon, with Cobie Durant, Emmanuel Forbes Jr., Josh Wallace and Derion Kendrick competing for playing time.

Smith — who enjoyed a career year in 2024 with 88 catches and eight touchdowns for the Dolphins — will receive a one-year contract extension worth $12 million. He joins returning starter Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington at tight end in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers have prioritized improving at cornerback this offseason, signing free agent Darius Slay Jr. in addition to trading for Ramsey, who has 24 career interceptions. Incumbent starter Joey Porter Jr. also returns.

The Steelers had grown disenchanted with Fitzpatrick, who was named All-Pro in 2019, 2020 and 2022 but had only one interception in the last two seasons after moving from free safety to strong safety.

Fitzpatrick was drafted 11th overall in 2018. The Dolphins traded him to the Steelers two games into the 2019 season along with fourth- and seventh-round picks for first-, fifth- and sixth-round picks.

New Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has revealed he had a secret wedding earlier this year.

The NFL’s four-time Most Valuable Player spent months contemplating his future before deciding to sign a one-year deal with the Steelers.

Rodgers signed his contract on Saturday and in a picture posted by the team on social media,, external he had a black band on his wedding ring finger.

The 41-year-old held a news conference on Tuesday after spending his first day training with the Steelers and one of the last questions was about the ring.

“Yeah, it’s a wedding ring,” said Rodgers.

Asked how long he’s been married, he added: “It’s been a couple of months.”

Rodgers was released after a disappointing second season with the New York Jets, becoming a free agent for the first time in his 20-year career.

He had visited the Steelers and reportedly received an offer from the New York Giants, but in April, Rodgers said that he was “open to anything”, including retirement.

The 2011 Super Bowl winner previously said that he delayed his decision because of personal reasons and, earlier in Tuesday’s news conference, he said: “I was dealing with a lot of things in my personal life.

“Some things improved a little bit, where I felt like I could fully be all in here with the guys.

“I didn’t want to short-change the guys and be signed but be elsewhere mentally or physically. Until I could be here and be all in, I needed to take care of my business.”