After the 2025 NFL Season, Fans Will Realize How Much Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin Have Underachieved in Their Career: Ryan Clark

It’s Aaron Rodgers o’clock in Pittsburgh. The man, the myth, the legend, and future first-ballot Hall of Famer has finally joined the Steelers squad after months of anticipation. Whatever reservations fans once had about him seem to have melted away. But the big question now is: can he actually thrive in the Steel City? Especially with one of the most successful head coaches in the league, Mike Tomlin, by his side?

Former Steeler Ryan Clark thinks so. But while giving Rodgers a vote of confidence, he also slipped in a spicy hot take.

On an episode of Get Up on ESPN, the crew discussed former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger’s recent prediction about Aaron Rodgers playing just one more season before calling it quits. Big Ben believes that while Rodgers might feel like he’s “100%” two years removed from his Achilles injury, the reality will be far different. Clark didn’t quite push back on the idea.

Instead, the former safety used it as a springboard to share a bigger take: that by the end of the 2025 season, people will look back and label Rodgers as someone who ultimately underachieved. And in Clark’s view, the same goes for his former head coach and Rodgers’ new partner in Pittsburgh, Mike Tomlin, who he believes will also be remembered as having fallen short of expectations.

“After this season, we’re going to have some sort of referendum on what Aaron Rodgers’ career is and what Mike Tomlin’s career is,” Clark started.

“And Imma say something that’s probably going to be a little bit of controversial: At the end of the season, we’re going to look back at these two first-ballot Hall of Famers, who we hold in such high esteem, and I think we’re gonna finally realize that both Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin have underachieved.”

Clark’s argument is that when his Steelers lost the Super Bowl to the Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay Packers in 2011, he saw something in the quarterback, a spark, perhaps, that he thought would lead to more Super Bowls. But it didn’t happen. The same goes for Mike Tomlin, who has won just one Super Bowl in his otherwise stellar career. Hence, Clark believes both have underachieved.

But we tend to disagree. Rodgers’ individual success is far greater than that of many other great QBs, and Super Bowls don’t fully measure his impact. Even if he goes down after just four snaps in Pittsburgh this year, he’ll still be remembered as one of the best quarterbacks the game has ever seen. He has not underachieved.

And Tomlin’s in the same boat. Sure, his lack of postseason success in recent years can be frustrating, but just look at the state of the Pittsburgh roster year after year. And yet, he’s consistently led them to the playoffs. The guy is currently riding an 18-season non-losing streak. There’s a reason he’s the longest-tenured head coach across the four major North American sports leagues.

So if the bar for “underachievement” is simply not winning enough rings, maybe it’s the bar that needs adjusting, not the legacies of Rodgers and Tomlin.