How Mike Tomlin's exit reportedly hit Steelers: Disbelief, grief permeated 'funeral' atmosphere

Aaron Rodgers signed a one-year deal to play his 21st NFL season for the Pittsburgh Steelers because of Mike Tomlin. Rodgers' Green Bay Packers defeated Tomlin's Steelers in Super Bowl XLV at the end of the 2010 season. In the following years, the four-time league MVP quarterback's appreciation continued to grow for Tomlin, the latest pillar of stability in a Steelers organization fortified by strong leadership.

Tomlin waited for Rodgers this past offseason when the now-42-year-old was deciding if he still wanted to keep playing football. Rodgers repaid him with 10 wins and an AFC North title - plus, endless support in front of microphones the veteran signal-caller disdains.

"Mike T has had more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19, 20 years," Rodgers said, via ESPN, after Pittsburgh lost its seventh straight postseason game under Tomlin, Monday night's 30-6 wild-card defeat to the Houston Texans.

"And more than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don't think about making a change, but there's a lot of pressure that comes from the outside, and obviously that sways decisions from time to time.

"But it's not how I would do things and not how the league used to be."

The decision on Tomlin's future was ultimately his to make, however. Steelers owner Art Rooney II confirmed that Wednesday when he told reporters he was prepared to welcome the NFL's longest-tenured head coach back for the 2026 campaign.

And yet Tomlin, 53, stepped down after a 19-year run that featured the franchise's sixth Super Bowl victory and eight division titles without a single losing season. Tomlin was the first to break the news, and he did so in the team meeting room on Tuesday.

It was there that Rodgers was heard sobbing and repeatedly telling Tomlin, "I'm sorry," according to Mike DeFabo's illustrative report from The Athletic.

In speaking to a collection of players, coaches and staff members, DeFabo uncovered the emotions triggered by Tomlin's final address as head coach in the Steel City. The Athletic story highlights the disbelief and grief that permeated throughout the Steelers' facility earlier this week.

A 'funeral' atmosphere

NFL rosters are never the same year-over-year. The only constant in the league is change. Tomlin indicated he'd be part of that change in his speech to his players Tuesday.

"I felt that the meeting was going to go completely different," one anonymous player told The Athletic.

"When he said, Some of us will be here and some of us won't, that's when I was like, 'Is this guy really stepping down?'"

Steelers star pass rusher T.J. Watt was stunned as Tomlin revealed his choice to walk away from a team he's piloted for nearly two decades, including during the entirety of the 31-year-old sack artist's career.

"No. No. No. No. No," an emotional Watt reportedly said over and over again.

Third-year Pittsburgh cornerback Joey Porter Jr. grew up with the Steelers. His dad played for the franchise from 1999-2006 and was a part of a Super Bowl XL team that recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of its world championship during the 2005 season. He then went on to coach on Tomlin's staff from 2014-18 before his son launched his Penn State career.

Porter Jr. and Tomlin go way back.

When the young DB heard the news, he almost hyperventilated, according to The Athletic's report.

"Fire Tomlin" chants were hard to ignore this season, as the Steelers once again danced with .500 before bouncing back and making a push for the division crown in an AFC North that was riddled by injuries.

The now-nine-year drought without a playoff win has angered fans. Many of them believed it was indeed time for a change.

Steelers players, though, remained steadfast in their trust that Tomlin was the right man for the job, and they wanted to help him get back over the postseason hump.

"Every single player in that building wants to play for Mike T," one anonymous player told The Athletic. "Were guys upset with coordinators? Yes. Was it the head guy? No."

Tomlin has two years remaining on his Steelers contract. If he wants to coach for another NFL team before the end of the 2027 season, Pittsburgh has the right to seek compensation for him. But Rooney said Wednesday that Tomlin told him he wasn't planning on coaching any time soon.

The decision he revealed Tuesday appears especially significant in that way.

A Steelers staff member told The Athletic that the atmosphere in the meeting room "felt like a funeral."

Tomlin reportedly earned a standing ovation after his speech and then hugged players one by one.

It was the end of an era, and of a season that started with Rodgers signing on with hopes of playoff success.