Aaron Rodgers is a brilliant football player but is less savvy in other aspects of the game
No one doubts New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ football legacy. It’s everything else they question.
And it’s all his fault.
As brilliant as Rodgers is on the football field, as detail-oriented and aware as he is, he hasn’t matched that awareness off the field. It comes back to bite him in many ways.
Rodgers might not care if the media hates him, but it inevitably becomes a distraction for the team. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if he had cultivated a strong relationship with the media. Instead, Rodgers invites and encourages hate.
Dan Leberfeld of Jets Confidential put it best when explaining why the media despises Rodgers. It’s much more fundamental than his takes on vaccines, his obfuscation regarding his vaccination status, or his political takes in general.
“Rodgers is an easy target for most sports talking heads and insiders because he doesn’t play ball with any of them. They have nothing to lose trashing Rodgers. They aren’t losing scoops or access because he’s not giving them any,” Leberfeld wrote.
This is the secret sauce that most other sports stars learn early in their careers: play nice with the media, and they’ll play nice back. Give them an inch, and they’ll back off a mile. They’ll be too afraid to lose the access you do give to push too hard.
Again, it goes beyond politics or vaccines. Many sports stars have controversial or unpopular political opinions (albeit maybe not as conspiracy theory-oriented as Rodgers’). It’s that he distances himself from the media, giving them no incentive to be anything but adversarial in return.
When Rodgers told ESPN’s Adam Schefter to lose his number, he hurt his team (or soon-to-be team) more than anyone else. That likely wasn’t his intention, but it happened nonetheless.
Rodgers doesn’t see what he does in his personal time as an issue for his team. He’s not doing anything criminal, something many other NFL players can’t say. In fact, it likely wouldn’t be such a big issue if he had a decent relationship with the media.
So what if he missed mandatory minicamp because of a previously scheduled engagement? He’s entering his 20th NFL season, and the Jets’ mandatory minicamp isn’t any different than their OTAs.
That’s what the spin would be. But instead, little-known NFL personalities are coming out of the woodwork to smash Rodgers. There’s fame to be gotten and clicks to be added from being the loudest voice to bash the Jets quarterback.
NFL players undergo media training for a reason. People skills are critically important for famous personalities. Rodgers chooses to ignore them — and a non-story becomes yet another circus for the Jets.
