The New York Jets knew exactly what they were getting into when acquiring Aaron Rodgers. Placing a larger target on their backs was the least of it.
When considering the usual sports media narrative surrounding the organization for the better part of the last half-century, adding one of the most polarizing sports figures in the modern era could only stir the pot more ferociously.
Perhaps the Jets expected it to be at least somewhat of a fair fight, however.
Opinion and speculation will always accompany hard facts in the NFL — a league whose motor runs 365 days a year. An organization that expects pulled punches is one that won’t be ready for the next fight.
There’s just one major problem in today’s modern sports media landscape: “Insider” information from anonymous sources provides no legitimate opponent … to actually fight.
The most recent sports media game involving Rodgers and the Jets reached a climax late last week. An unnamed agent slammed the franchise’s overall environment, labeling the team as in “complete disarray,” per The Athletic’s Ben Standig.
“There is complete disarray over there,” per Standig. “Look at how they’ve handled Aaron Rodgers. Has one player had more power than him? He skipped minicamp. They have been unable to convert him into a team player. The vibe inside the building is terrible.”
Interestingly — despite some national coverage — this story seems to have largely fallen through the cracks. It took about 30 seconds for people to roll their eyes and dismiss it.
The New York Post’s Brian Costello provided an acute moment of dry humor when posting (on X, formerly Twitter) that the Jets’ press box is in “complete disarray.”
I will say the vibe inside the press room is terrible. Complete disarray.
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) August 29, 2024
A tremendous percentage of Jets fandom shook their heads in disgust. Some fans even speculated that the report came from an agent whose client the Jets just released.
How did such a story not become a major talking point in the national news cycle? Well, simply put, the jig is up.
It’s amazing to think about how ridiculously disregarded this report truly was. Consider the vast territory the sports media engagement game with Jets fans actually covers.
From Mark Sanchez’s hot-dog-eating antics to Tim Tebow’s disastrous stay, the Jets provided great fodder. From Rex Ryan’s boisterous ways to John Idzik’s talent-killing strategy, former WFAN host Mike Francesa knew where to find the ratings gold.
Normally, anything involving a playoff-starved fanbase in New York — not to mention coupled with a vocal quarterback whose sleeve continues to feature a diverse set of categories — has legs mirroring Forrest Gump’s Alabama-running pair. Talking heads quickly go screaming, whereas writing folks rapidly go typing.
This time, interestingly, the story spread for a short period, with a far shorter net, before dying on the vine.
Perhaps a new day is on the horizon. Maybe, just maybe, fans have realized — particularly in today’s social media-driven world — that the entire goal of the media game is to elicit the greatest emotion. Hope and championship dreams of the spring often turn into nightmarish storylines in the fall.
What first goes up (a fan’s freshly-tuned optimism) must ultimately come crashing down (a fan’s utter disgust). For the New York Jets fan, who’s a part of arguably the hungriest fanbase in the world—located in the greatest metropolitan location in the universe, mind you—those games and emotions are magnified.
And the media knows it.
Make no mistake about it: Nearly every area of the media knows it. At the very least, each media member and platform knows it and has executed it at one point or another, even if they have since pulled back on the strategy.
It’s only common sense, really. As opposed to the old days of media, when a reader was forced to choose a publication off the newsstand, publications must now appeal to the reader while he or she scrolls through mass information on social media. Only the unique headlines stand out in a certain sense. Therefore, only integrity separates the outlets that practice pristine journalistic standards and those that don’t.
The source of the latest Jets-Rodgers reports that seemingly play the engagement game are linked back to only one outlet. ESPN and the New York Post are not putting out such bilge.
Rich Cimini and the aforementioned Costello are above such nonsense. It’s not that they don’t have sources in the building; they simply refuse to stoop to the lowest common denominator that placates click-the-title fan engagement.
Something seemingly changed at The Athletic in the last few years. Maybe it was the sale to the New York Times, or perhaps it was the arrival of key reporters from other influential media positions.
Whatever it was, the vitriol in the reporting on Rodgers has reached a fevered pitch, and the worst comes from The Athletic.
What happened to journalistic integrity? What happened to The Athletic’s own standards of sourcing information? These are some of The Athletic’s very own guidelines when dealing with anonymous sources.
- “The use of anonymous sources is often necessary to gather information. … Anonymous sourcing should be used as sparingly as possible and when providing vital information — not just spin, speculation, color or embellishment (emphasis added).
- “There is an additional level of scrutiny that should be placed on stories in which anonymous sourcing is being used. Considerations include: How does the source know the information? Is it firsthand or secondhand? What is their motivation for sharing the information? (emphasis added) … How can we corroborate the information, ideally with multiple sources?”
Naturally, it seems pretty clear these standards were ignored. Even worse, these standards travel beyond reaching out to the Rodgers camp and Jets organization for comment, which is not mentioned in the article.
The agent quoted has been consuming national media content about Rodgers. The agent’s comments showcase zero originality, and nothing to suggest any firsthand information is present.
On the surface, it feels like nothing more than parroting second-hand information, which, interestingly enough, coincided with Joe Douglas’s preseason press conference and the week of player cuts.
Does this sound like first-hand information? Is it vital information, not just spin, speculation, color, or embellishment? Is this even an agent who has worked with Jets players?
There have been many reports this offseason from players, coaches, scouts, executives, and now agents. Not all of it is pretty, and some say more about those offering the opinions than the opinions themselves.
Still, at least that information mostly comes from honestly gleaned perceptions rather than idle gossip.
Moreover, this is far from the first time The Athletic targeted the Mr. Rodgers-era Jets. The Jets have been a favorite target of this outlet since Rodgers arrived, or even before it. Coincidentally, it started when Dianna Russini joined The Athletic as their senior NFL insider.
Russini reported that Rodgers gave the Jets a player “wish list” and subsequently denied calling it a list of demands. She also reported that Zach Wilson was reluctant to re-enter the Jets’ starting lineup to face the Houston Texans, prompting Rodgers to call her out for assassinating Wilson’s character through anonymous sources.
"When you use sources to try and assassinate someone's character like that report does for Zach I have a real hard time with that..
You're basically saying that this kid is quitting on the team and doesn't wanna play" @AaronRodgers12 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/b9WNCSIoKB
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 5, 2023
Russini’s postmortem on the New York Jets’ 2023 season was particularly cutting — and also stated as fact while utilizing almost 30 anonymous sources.
Here is what Russini had to say about her own reporting:
“I think Jets fans are in denial,” Russini said while on Pardon My Take. “They want to call people liars because they don’t want to believe that it’s that bad, that the culture is that awful. So don’t blame the team, (instead) blame the reporter (who) uncovered all of this.”
She continued, “Because I live in an area where there are Jets fans, I have people coming up to me, like, (I was just) at the eye doctor, the guy who was helping me, was like, ‘Come on.’ People want me to say, ‘All right, we dramatized it; it’s not really that bad. Aaron’s great; he’s kumbaya with everybody,’ (even though) the reality is it’s a mess in New York. It’s really bad.”
That sounds like someone with an axe to grind. Yet she simultaneously felt the need to anonymously source the idea that Rodgers respects her, per Awful Announcing.
Compare all of the above to Ian O’Connor’s book, Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers, which states information without an edge of personal involvement.
O’Connor cites various opinions about Rodgers, many of which come from named sources. He presents the positives and the negatives, sources that corroborate or deny other sources. O’Connor writes through an unbiased lens befitting of true journalism.
And yes, he addresses the elephant in the room about Rodgers’ “vibes” without coming off as personally invested—even though he wholly understands the modern sports media game that bends towards title-click engagement.
Of course, the most recent anonymous agent story did not come from Russini, but The Athletic’s obvious change in tone has been noticeable since her arrival.
There is a difference between honest reporting and confirmation bias that’s promoted by personal vendettas. When Aaron Rodgers is involved, the latter usually takes the former’s place. When the New York Jets are involved, it’s magnified to an absurd degree.
Ultimately, in and around the New York Jets, it is a bunch of external noise easily ignored. For the NFL fan, though, it is fair to ask what happened to journalistic integrity — and whether anything about Aaron Rodgers is believable these days.
While it’s a shame that all Jets fandom has moved from somewhat bonkers to completely cynical, it’s also extremely telling that nearly the entire pie rejected The Athletic’s most recent unnamed-sourced report. Perhaps today’s sports media landscape is finally morphing for the better.
Integrity goes a long way towards solving today’s “act first, accuracy second” media world, but an apathetic readership base impacts everything in wholesale ways. Instead of far-too-many gullible suckers living in fandom and the media, this latest sports media game produced unique and strange apathy.
The New York Jets fanbase turning apathetic isn’t something likely to ever happen. But if this specific reaction (to unnamed sources) consistently repeats moving forward, maybe we’re heading for greener sports media pastures.
One can only hope.
