Steelers' Aaron Rodgers reveals NFL once had a completely different plan for its international games

Rodgers is now the first quarterback to play an international game in three different countries in three straight years No quarterback is as well-traveled, at least when it comes to football, as Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The four-time MVP is the first quarterback in NFL history to play an international game in three different countries in three straight seasons. He played in London, England, in 2024; Dublin, Ireland, in 2025; and Paris, France, in 2026. After Rodgers' Steelers won 16-10 in the NFL's first game in Paris, the quarterback revealed that when the NFL and the NFL Players Association were negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement in 2020, they almost had a different plan for international games.

The NFL and its players' union were in talks to hold an international week in which the 16 games for its 32 teams would take place in 16 different locations around the world. With all games outside of the United States that week, the season would be 16 games long, and each team would have two bye weeks. Rodgers said those conversations died when owners pushed for a 17th regular-season game, which did come to fruition in 2021. "The reach of the league is fantastic, and I think I always wanted to be a part of it," Rodgers said postgame. "I think