In Ireland, Aaron Rodgers talks Guinness and NFL international growth
MAYNOOTH Ireland AP Aaron Rodgers was dressed in black appropriately to field questions about Guinness The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback spoke to the international media Friday at a resort hotel where the group is staying ahead of Sunday s encounter against the Minnesota Vikings Can t avoid the Guinness questions in Ireland it seems I don t really drink beer but if I do I drink Guinness I ve heard it tastes different off the tap in Ireland he revealed hours after the group s flight landed The four-time NFL MVP revealed he s tried Guinness across the limit in Northern Ireland It was great but I m excited to see what it tastes like here he explained It would certainly taste better with a achievement at Croke Park on Sunday when Ireland joins the NFL s growing list of host countries The league is staging seven international games this season When I first got in the league there was an occasional challenge in Canada But now we see games in so a great number of different countries Rodgers disclosed It s fun to be able to be part of a match here on this island Names on practice jerseys in Irish In a nod to local custom the Steelers switched up the language for players names on their practice jerseys Friday The names were written in Irish Mac Ruairi was the spelling for Rodgers shirt I have a family history going back to Ireland and Scotland I ve inevitably desired to get over here the quarterback added The Rooney family traces its roots to Newry in County Down and late Steelers chairman Daniel M Rooney was U S ambassador to Ireland from - I know how much this means to them and how much a win here would mean to the family Rodgers stated Strategies on kickoffs still evolving Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin a member of the league s competition committee declared the new kickoff rule is doing exactly what we intended it to do It s putting specific excitement back in the battle It s adding certain quality plays to the championship he commented There s still plenty to learn he added We re all learning and growing regarding best practices schematically how to strategize things to do how to position players Specific of the size of the players in certain positions has changed Tomlin declared We re all absorbing a lot of tape and we re all learning and growing as we go The association has been practicing receiving tricky bounces That s certainty a component of it for us and has been he stated There s already been a big blunder two weeks ago kick returner Kaleb Johnson turned his back on a live football Seattle s George Holani recovered the ball at the back of the end zone for a touchdown in the Seahawks - success over Pittsburgh AP NFL https apnews com hub nfl Source
