Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past week or so. Despite missing all but four snaps for the New York Jets this season, the future Hall of Famer ensured that his name remained at the forefront of people’s minds with his weekly appearances on The Pat McAfee Show.
To be fair, Rodgers has spent some time during his appearances praising Jordan Love and his former team for their success. However, without being on the field himself, Rodgers tended to steer conversations on the show onto topics that he feels strongly about in his personal life, topics such as vaccination, conspiracy theories, and other things that made it easy for Packers fans to move on from him in their minds.
While much of what Rodgers has said in the past can be described as quirky, his personal attacks on scientists, doctors, politicians, and other figures that disagree with him became concerning. These reached a new height last week when Rodgers insinuated that comedian Jimmy Kimmel, with whom he has a years-long feud, is on the infamous Epstein List.
Kimmel responded to this incredibly serious accusation on social media and on his own show, denying that he was ever associated with Epstein (and there is no evidence that he was). Rodgers, in this week’s appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, did not back down from what he said, instead calling anyone who thought he would accuse Kimmel of something so vile a series of names. He also accused executives at ESPN, the network that employs The Pat McAfee Show. On Wednesday, McAfee made a shocking announcement regarding future Rodgers interviews amidst the backlash his show was getting.
Aaron Rodgers Will Not Appear on The Pat McAfee Show for the Remainder of the NFL Season
McAfee opened his show on Wednesday explaining that, while he is employed by ESPN, he himself negotiated his deal with them and he and his team are able to create and do whatever they want (within reason). That being said, he is painfully aware of the negative press that his show has garnered over the last week or so.
As a result, he made the decision (not ESPN, not Rodgers, not anyone else) that Rodgers would not be a guest on the show for the remainder of the NFL season/postseason:
We’ve given a lot of people who have been waiting for us to fail a lot of ammo the last week..
Let’s chat about sports #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/S7J3FGprv0
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 10, 2024
“Aaron Rodgers Tuesday season four is done. There are going to be a lot of people happy about that, myself included to be honest. It got real loud there at the end, real loud, and I am happy that is not going to be in my mentions going forward.
He then goes onto to say that he does not want to be a mainstream show, he does not want to be nominated for an Emmy because he does not like the people who vote on them, and he appreciates that he and his team are able to do things the way they want them.
Towards the end of the segment, he said:
“Aaron Rodgers is a Hall of Famer. He is a four-time MVP. He is a massive part of the NFL story. And we are very lucky to have a chance to talk to him and learn from him, but some of his thoughts and opinions piss off a lot of people. And I’m pumped that that is no longer going to be every single Wednesday of my life.”
While it stands to reason that Aaron Rodgers Tuesdays would come to an end with the finale of the NFL regular season, much of Pat’s comments beg the question: will Rodgers be welcome back next year?
It doesn’t sound like a done deal at all.
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