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NFL Star, 42, Finally Reveals His Future in League

The legendary QB, revealed last season to have a secret wife, had been mum about his future in football.

Aaron Rodgers will retire as a Pittsburgh Steeler. The star NFL quarterback said definitively on Wednesday that the 2026 season will be his last, telling a reporter who asked, “Yes, this is it.” Rodgers, 42, signed a one-year deal with the Steelers last weekend, returning despite the franchise firing longtime head coach Mike Tomlin in January. Rodgers said he considered retirement after an embarrassing first-round playoff exit, but ultimately returned to the Steelers after Mike McCarthy, who coached Rodgers for 15 seasons in Green Bay, was hired. Rodgers is known to keep to himself—so much so, he got secretly married sometime in early 2025, only revealing that he tied the knot after a reporter noticed a ring on his finger last summer. Still, Rodgers has kept his wife’s full name private, and his own teammates and their spouses have not met her, describing her as a “phantom.” Rodgers has floated retirement previously, saying last off-season that he was “pretty sure” the 2025 season would be his last. Now, he sounds much more certain about his future.