Aaron Rodgers waited for the perfect moment to join the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Elon Musk accentuating his bitter feud with Donald Trump was it.
For months, NFL teams, fans, analysts, and schedule-makers have waited for Rodgers to announce his next move. After getting dumped by the New York Jets earlier this year, it was widely assumed that Rodgers would play his 21st NFL season in Pittsburgh.
Despite the predictable outcome, the polarizing quarterback turned it into a long and drawn-out process by making everyone wait and wait and wait some more, until Thursday, June 5, at 3:12 p.m. ET, when NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reported that Rodgers was going to the Steelers is a “done deal.” The news broke exactly two minutes after Elon Musk nearly broke his social media platform, which happens frequently under his watch, by claiming Trump is named in the Epstein files.
Time to drop the really big bomb:@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.
Have a nice day, DJT!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
Was this an attempt at a Friday news dump on a Thursday afternoon by Rodgers? Or did Rodgers see Musk’s Trump accusation and say, “Hold my beer.” Because if we all knew Rodgers was going to end up in Pittsburgh, surely the attention-starved quarterback wanted to find a way of letting the news break at the most interesting time.
The most important thing on Twitter right now https://t.co/piwlEupW3L
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 5, 2025
Perhaps the only thing more predictable than Rodgers eventually signing with the Steelers was Musk and Trump seeing their bromance morph into a bitter divorce. Although not sure we foresaw the Musk and Trump divorce turning into World War III on social media. Earlier this year, Rodgers seemed stuck in the denial stage of grief after his divorce with the New York Jets. Musk and Trump, however, jumped straight to the anger stage.
Ironically, this wasn’t the first time Rodgers and the Epstein files were in the same news cycle. Less than two years after Rodgers falsely accused Jimmy Kimmel of having ties to the Epstein files during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Musk impersonated an NFL quarterback the only way he could.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com