Aaron Rodgers hasn’t even stepped foot inside Heinz Field to play a game for the Steelers, and fans have already had enough.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that while fans are buying his shirts ahead of this season, they’re not all doing it out of love for the future Hall of Famer.
“Some people are like, ‘I want a shirt just so I can burn it,’” Danielle Dudas, an employee at Strip District Tees, told the newspaper.
Multiple store owners added that sales are up thanks to his arrival.
Rodgers, who all but promised that this would be his final season in the NFL after signing a one-year $13 million deal with the Steelers, isn’t generating big purchases for his replica jerseys that cost $120-plus according to store owners.
Terrible towel-waving fans instead prefer the cheaper shirt option that they can do whatever they want with, including waste it, according to the store owners.
Rodgers will be wearing the No. 8 for the Steelers next season, the same number he wore for the Jets the last two years, where he was a lightning rod for the team.
“I’m pretty sure this is it, that’s why we just did a one-year deal. Steelers didn’t need to put any extra years on that or anything,” Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“This was really about finishing with a lot of love and fun and peace for the career that I’ve had.”
The future Hall of Famer and four-time MVP missed all but four plays of his first season in New York when he tore his Achilles in the opener.
Rodgers didn’t ingratiate himself with Jets fans when healthy, either.
The Jets started last season 2-3 and fired coach Robert Saleh after Week 5 as the season spiraled into a circus.
The Steelers, led by longtime head coach Mike Tomlin, offer a more stable environment for Rodgers.
Pittsburgh flipped top receivers this offseason — landing DK Metcalf from the Seahawks, while shipping George Pickens to the Cowboys in separate deals.
The Steelers are in the midst of a contract dispute with star pass rusher TJ Watt as another potential distraction in Pittsburgh.