The last time Aaron Rodgers exited the field, he was brimming with pride, his eyes glistening. But just eight days later, the euphoria from that 26-24 victory over the Ravens and the AFC North crown came painfully undone. On the back of a 30-6 defeat versus the Houston Texans, it is not the dignified goodbye Rodgers deserves if he is to retire. But with the kind of go-getter mentality he has, the real question is: Will the 4x MVP end his iconic career with such an appalling low?

“I’m not going to make any emotional decisions,” he said in the post-game press conference. “Disappointed. Obviously, such a fun year. A lot of adversity, but a lot of fun. Been a great year overall in my life in the last year, and this is a really good part of that, coming here and being part of this team. So it’s disappointing to be sitting here with the season over.”

There’s two ways this could go: Number one, Rodgers rides off to the sunset after retiring from “one of the cornerstone franchises of the NFL with Mike Tomlin and a great group of leadership” like he envisioned on the Pat McAfee show last year. Or, the 10x Pro-Bowler decides to put his 42-year-old body through a season-worth of grueling again, a decision subject to another crucial decision: Whether or not to stay with the Steelers.

While NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that the team would be “more than open” to continuing with the veteran as their QB1 after the latter’s one-year, $13.65 million deal expired, Rodgers remained non-committal on Monday night.

“I’m not going to talk about that,” the veteran responded when asked about his future in Mike Tomlin‘s roster, a far-cry from his answer barely weeks ago.

“I’m thinking about this week, but obviously I’m 42 years old and I’m on a one-year deal,” he told reporters. “So you know what the situation is. Whenever the season ends, I’ll be a free agent. So that’ll give me a lot of options if I still want to play. I mean, not a lot of options, but there’ll be options, I would think, maybe one or two, if I decide I still want to play.

“I’ve enjoyed this experience, and everybody in Pittsburgh has been fantastic to me on and off the field. And it’s really what I was hoping for this experience was, it’s been even better than I was hoping.”

With no clear long-term answer at quarterback, with Will Howard and Mason Rudolph sitting as internal options, the Steelers’ front office will certainly hope Rodgers decides to stay. This season, he guided Pittsburgh to a 10-7 record and an AFC North title for the first time since 2020, while completing 65.7% of his throws for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and a rushing score.

In fact, Rodgers became just one of four quarterbacks to start a playoff game at age 42 or older, after Tom Brady, Drew Brees. Racking up 66,274 passing yards and 527 passing touchdowns in 264 games, he recorded 163 regular-season wins in 257 starts as a quarterback. Many opine he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Yet, the media pandemonium has zeroed in on that one moment which will probably haunt Rodgers for a long time to come.

Aaron Rodgers addresses his walk of shame

With 2:39 left in the fourth quarter, the scoreline reading 30-6, Mike Tomlin called Aaron Rodgers back as backup Mason Rudolph took over. In the post-game press conference, Rodgers explained what went behind that decision.

“It was 30 to 6,” were the only words the signal caller said when questioned about why Rudolph was called so late.

Meaning? The team knew it was a point of no return and that the game was already lost. But what was more heartbreaking is what it all means.

As the cameras settled on Rodgers’ face asked he walked off the field, he looked visibly stunned. Rodgers’ eyes were glistening again, but this time the emotion couldn’t be farther than what he had felt the last time. In possibly the last game of his career, the Super Bowl champ recorded a 50.8 passer rating, which ranked in the bottom 3 percent of his performances. Completing 17 of 33 pass attempts for 146 yards (a post-season low), no touchdowns, an interception and four sacks, he also lost a fumble on a strip sack.

The QB1’s 4.4 yards per attempt and 50.8 passer rating were also career-worst playoff marks. What’s more, the Steelers’ 6 points were reportedly also the fewest scored by a Rodgers-led offense in a playoff game. The whole game, Rodgers looked worn down, and so did the offense around him.

The loss was undoubtedly painful, as was the pain in Rodgers’ face when he exited the gridiron for probably the final time in his career.