NFL declines comment on the Steelers’ failure to disclose Aaron Rodgers’ illness before playoff loss

Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently disclosed to Mike Silver of The Athletic that Rodgers was ill before the January playoff loss to the Texans. The illness was not disclosed by the Steelers.

In response to an inquiry from PFT on the situation, the NFL declined comment.

In 2023, the NFL fined the Falcons $75,000 and then-coach Arthur Smith $25,000 for failing to disclose that running back Bijan Robinson had an illness on the morning of a game against the Buccaneers.

The fact that the NFL has declined comment doesn’t mean the league will ignore it. How can they? In this age of legalized and normalized betting, the failure of the Steelers to update their injury report to reveal that Rodgers had an illness is a problem on its face.

The league has no choice but to investigate. If the reporting is true (and it is, we’ve confirmed), the league will have no choice but to act. Any other approach amounts to the league looking the other way on the Steelers concealing an important piece of inside information.

Given the various ways in which inside information has allegedly or actually been misused in multiple sports (the NFL recently suspended a Cardinals executive for allegedly sharing information about the team’s draft picks), inaction is not acceptable. If the league is going to profit from gambling, either directly through sponsorships or indirectly by owners owning up to five percent of companies that operate sportsbooks, the NFL cannot ignore clear instances of teams having inside information about a player’s health and failing to reveal it.