Cam Heyward and Aaron Rodgers have officially cleared the air.
Although the pair have been interacting as Steelers teammates for weeks now, meaning any residual tension has likely dissipated already, Heyward and Rodgers publicly and decisively squashed the beef in an episode of Heyward's Not Just Football podcast released Tuesday.
The beef, as it were, refers to comments Heyward made over the offseason, when Rodgers still had yet to sign with Pittsburgh. “Either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don’t. That’s simple, that’s the pitch," Heyward said on his podcast, referring to Rodgers' flirtation with the team prior to signing.
The lineman (who is currently angling for a new contract) later said the comments were misconstrued, and has been complimentary of the QB throughout the preseason stretch. But the two of them appearing side-by-side on Heyward's pod is perhaps the most obvious kumbaya moment fans have gotten thus far.
The episode starts with Heyward's apology.
"Well, I have to apologize, I guess my words were taken out of context when I said if you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or not. How did you feel about that?" Heyward said.
"I was hurt," Rodgers replied, seemingly kidding a touch. "You didn't reach out. You just wanted to make a statement in the media. You had a preconceived notion of who I was, obviously. And how has that changed over the past few months?"
"It's been good," Heyward said. "You came to my cookout, you came to my golf outing. I appreciate that." The DT continued to explain that his perception of Rodgers really began last season, when the QB supposedly made a comment about Heyward's age during a game.
"This f––r right here, just right off the bat, just asked me how old I am, like he's a f––g spring chicken," Heyward quipped, to which Rodgers replied, "'Cause you got more grays than I do.'"
Clearly some comfortable back and forth between these guys.
Watch that below, starting almost right at the top:
Now, why the public's perception of Rodgers and the version of him on a team never seem to align, we're not exactly sure. But happy these future Hall of Famers got whatever residual wariness was left out of their systems before their regular season begins Sept. 7.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cam Heyward Apologizes to Aaron Rodgers for Comments About Wanting to Be a Steeler.
