PITTSBURGH — After a Rams-Packers game in 2021 at Lambeau Field, seventh-round rookie Ben Skowronek sought out Aaron Rodgers at midfield. Skowronek didn't play in the game, let alone interact with Rodgers, but he wanted to pay his respects to one of the NFL's best ever and have a story to tell for himself in case his career didn't last long.

Four years later, Skowronek was part of an hours-long dinner with Rodgers at Nobu, a swanky Japanese sushi restaurant where you're just as likely to see Drake or a Kardashian as you are Steelers pass-catchers. That's where Rodgers and some of his new teammates picked each other's brains earlier this month before reconvening in Latrobe, which is only slightly less glamorous than sunny Southern California.

"It kind of broke the ice, I guess," Skowronek said Friday outside the Steelers locker room at Saint Vincent College. "I was maybe walking on eggshells a little bit during mandatory minicamp. But Malibu, we really got to know each other on a deeper level and just build trust."

That's the paradox of the Aaron Rodgers Effect. Guys like Skowronek and Calvin Austin III and Pat Freiermuth can visit the ritziest areas on the Pacific Coast. Rodgers lives there. But through the first weekend of training camp, Rodgers has made himself less available to the public than last year's celebrity quarterback, Russell Wilson.

When it comes to the team, though, he seems to be trying to fit in like Wilson this time 12 months ago.

"He's another player," Skowronek said. "Obviously, he's a multiple-time MVP, has a great history in the league, but he's just one of the guys."

As coach Mike Tomlin put it, "When in Rome, he's gonna be Roman."

No one followed up with whether Rodgers used to be Persian, or perhaps Ottoman, but his relationships won't be built in a day. For the Steelers who didn't have that trip out west, the bonding experience of a remote training camp is also an opportunity to be in Rodgers' orbit.

Rookie quarterback Will Howard had spent a few days in the meeting room with Rodgers last month at minicamp, and now they're going through their first Camp Tomlin together. It's NFL camp No. 21 for Rodgers, though, which isn't lost on Howard.

"Every day, it's a privilege. He's a legend," Howard said. "Getting to work with him — I've said it again and again — it's awesome. ... He's just been so good to me, so willing to help me. And he doesn't have to do that."

Howard admitted there's a downside to it, however. Sometimes, he just has to look away when Rodgers makes a certain throw because it reminds him that his arm talent isn't quite at that level.

There was one moment Friday when Rodgers subtly lowered his arm angle to avoid a leaping Keeanu Benton — trying to get his hands up for a batted pass — and fit the ball into a window to rookie running back Kaleb Johnson over the middle. Rodgers also had one of his classic off-the-back-foot tosses to Darnell Washington after a play-fake.

Howard wasn't surprised to see those old tricks from Rodgers, but he didn't necessarily anticipate the intangibles.

"I didn't really know what to expect from him," Howard said. "And that was the biggest thing, when he came in, he said, 'Give me a clean slate. Get to know me for me.' And I wanted to do that. I didn't want to come in with any expectations of who he was.

"In getting to know him, he's such a down-to-earth, good guy. He likes to joke around and have fun and mess with the other guys, but also you can just tell it's pure. He loves the game. He wants to be here because he loves football and wants to end his career the right way."

Rodgers spent his first full day on campus chatting with kicker Chris Boswell during the team conditioning test. A day later, warming up for the first practice, he stretched with his hand on the right shoulder of third-year edge rusher DeMarvin Leal, then Leal balancing himself on Rodgers' shoulder, all the while shooting the breeze.

By the time they return to the South Side, any number of players will have caught passes from him, picked him off or sat in the cafeteria with him. It's early, of course, but perhaps there are Steelers who figured their new quarterback would be one way only for him to come off completely different.

"He talks to everybody," said his temporary suitemate, wide receiver DK Metcalf. "He loves to crack jokes. He's very sarcastic."

At the end of the day, maybe there's not too much a 41-year-old future Hall of Famer and 20-somethings hoping to find their way to Canton can relate to. Metcalf was briefly intrigued when Rodgers walked in on him playing video games — "College Football 26," to be exact — but rather than try to join, Rodgers just went the other way.

Instead, Metcalf can ask Rodgers for feedback on his game. Skowronek can ask Rodgers what it was like throwing a certain route to Davante Adams, or what made Jordy Nelson one of his favorite targets in Green Bay. Left tackle Broderick Jones can joke with him in the huddle and expect "a couple slick remarks here and there" before it's back to business.

"He also comes with a little bit of the goofiness and just trying to get everybody to relax," Jones said. "He wants everybody to relax and just play their game. You can really tell and feel that coming from him."

To sum up the entire Rodgers experience so far — the initial steps in what will be an under-the-microscope journey in Pittsburgh — Howard probably put it best.

"All my life, I've heard of Aaron Rodgers, obviously," Howard said. "He's been a staple in this league for a long time. Everybody has an opinion about the guy, and I wanted to make my own. I didn't want to take anybody else's word for it."

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