For someone who calls himself an enigma, Aaron Rodgers is pretty easy to figure out.
The quarterback proved it once again in his latest appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday. In the closing moments of his time on the show, Rodgers decided to try to make some waves once again.
“Say whatever the f— you want about me. I don’t care. But before you do it, whether you state your name, your accolades, pronouns, whatever it is, just state your vax status so that anything you say afterward gets put in the right light. Just get it out there. Cause then when you say things about me, people can at least be like, ‘Oh, you are captured by the multimillion-dollar propaganda Skyhawk, and you’re still upset about it.’ Just put that out there just so everybody knows where you’re coming from,” said Rodgers.
Sigh… where to start?
It is currently 2024, and 2025 will begin in only a few weeks. The height of the COVID-19 vaccine discussions occurred in late 2020 and early 2021, when they became readily available. For those like me who sometimes struggle with math, that means these discussions were at their height almost five years ago.
To put that into context, I was entering my sophomore year of college in 2020. As of 2024, I finished my undergrad and master’s degrees. Sam Darnold was still the Jets’ quarterback in 2020, and Zach Wilson had not even taken a snap in the NFL.
What is the point of this diatribe? No serious individuals are having heated debates about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines in 2024. It has been almost half a decade since these discussions. It is not a central talking point in the media or the cultural zeitgeist. To be frank, you, I, and most other people are not running around asking others about vaccination statuses.
As a result, it is clear as day that Rodgers wants to be in the national conversation with his comments.
Last week, the quarterback railed against ESPN for its “asinine” takes in the modern age. He yearned for the days when SportsCenter made highlights “fun.” However, on Tuesday, Rodgers seemingly attacked ESPN personalities, namely Ryan Clark, by asking them to proclaim their vaccine status.
It is a contradictory set of statements from the future Hall-of-Famer. In a vacuum, Rodgers could be correct about ESPN; many of their pundits do put out less than stellar commentary and takes.
However, a week later, Rodgers does the same, taking all the air out of his statements. He is putting out an asinine take on an ESPN show, where he is being paid money to do so.
This has been a repeated pattern with Rodgers throughout his time on McAfee’s show and in recent years. He will make a statement, such as saying in one instance that all of the “bulls—” needs to get out of the Jets building, and then continue to make headlines during his media appearances.
Some may call this hypocritical, and some may call it pathetic. Some may even call it confusing, asking how Rodgers can say one thing and do the opposite.
However, I would simply call it another day in the office for someone looking for attention.
Rodgers is not too different from you and me. He wants attention from others. Usually, he wants that attention to be positive, but even the negative attention works for him.
As a result, you get these types of comments. You get the thinly veiled comments about the Jets’ ownership and their meddling. You get him throwing his teammate under the bus on live television.
In the case of his most recent vaccine comments, there is a second effect. On Tuesday, a new documentary covering Rodgers was released on Netflix. It follows his rehab journey and how he returned to playing quarterback for the New York Jets in 2024.
What better way to get his name even further out in the public and potentially get more eyes on his documentary? Well, making a crazy comment in the public sphere should do the trick!
At the end of the day, Rodgers wants to be in the public discussion on a consistent basis. Through his play, opinions, or “enigmatic” personality, Rodgers thrives when people’s gaze and attention are on him. It is what has fueled him through the back half of his career.
People can feel whatever they want about Rodgers. You can hate him and what he stands for. You can love him, whether for his play on the field or his words off of it. Some even fall into the middle category!
But regardless of those feelings, it is obvious who Rodgers is at this point. He is an attention seeker and is willing to do what is necessary to receive it. The question going forward, however, will be if the New York Jets are still willing to give it to him.
