I remember how upset I was a few years ago when Fox News host Laura Ingraham wanted LeBron James to”shut up and dribble.” She didn’t want to hear him talk about social injustice anymore. She wanted to see him, not hear him.
Even though I still think that sentiment is wrong, I think in Aaron Rodgers‘s case, it’s time for him to just shut up and play ball.
Since Rodgers got injured to start the 2023 NFL season, he’s remained in the spotlight thanks to personal beef, conspiracy theories, and unhinged rants.
His latest one seemed to step over the line when he said on The Pat McAfee Show that ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel would be on Jeffery Epstein’s client list.
“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, who’s really hoping that doesn’t come out,” said Rodgers.
Those comments did not go over well with Kimmel or ESPN executives, especially since ABC and ESPN are both Disney companies.
Rather than be a man and apologize, Rodgers blamed the “woke” media for trying to “cancel” him, terms he loves to employ when he gets even a hint of pushback.
“This is their game plan,” Rodgers said. “They use these words to cancel people and they went and ran with this because it’s the crazy, anti-vaxxer whacko again talking about, accusing somebody of being a pedophile? Of course. This is the game plan they use. Incorrect, but that’s the environment that we’re in.”
The whole thing appeared to be too much even for McAfee, who announced that Rodgers’ weekly appearances on the show were done for the season. However, Rodgers was back on the show Thursday, so who knows?
Remember when Rodgers was a likable guy? He was a little strange but he had charisma and a sense of humor. It also helped that he seemed to keep the focus on football while helping the Green Bay Packers compete for Super Bowls.
These days, however, he seems to have gone down one too many internet rabbit holes and now he won’t shut up about how the world is against millionaires like him. We want to know how your rehab is going, Aaron, not hear you explain for the millionth time why you don’t like vaccines. We don’t care about your crazy conspiracy theories, we want to know if you’re coming back next year.
Rodgers has the right to speak his mind, but people also have the right to think what he’s saying is nothing more than a distraction. Every time he opens his mouth, he makes us forget how great of a quarterback he’s been. He continues to tarnish his reputation with his arrogance.
It doesn’t help either that his former team, the Green Bay Packers, are playoff-bound with starter Jordan Love who has blossomed into a fine NFL quarterback. While Rodgers spouts conspiracy theories, Love has made Packers fans glad that they don’t have to deal with Rodgers’ headaches anymore.
If Rodgers is more concerned with letting people know how smart he is or setting up his post-playing career as a YouTube conspiracy theorist, that’s fine. But if he wants to be remembered for being a great football player, he’d do well to spend next season focused on football instead of Fauci.
