After a long offseason full of rumors, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rodgers finally came together on a contract. It was a move that had been expected for quite some time, but that had dragged on for long enough to make fans nervous about it not happening.

Standing in front of a sea of cameras more suited for the week ahead of a conference championship game rather than what Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin calls “football-lite” in June, the 41-year-old Rodgers made a compelling case that the coda he is trying to author in Pittsburgh is about something deeper.