Monday’s rollicking, grievance-airing appearance by Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on The Pat McAfee Show prompted ESPN, one of the targets of Rodgers’s ire, to say nothing.
The Steelers issued a comment essentially supporting Rodgers’s ability to say whatever he wants, whenever he wants, wherever he wants.
“Discussions around culture and politics can bring differing perspectives, and our players are entitled to their own personal views,” Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten told WTAE-TV, via Steelers Depot. “With respect to that, I am certain there are a variety of opinions on many topics within our locker room.”
It’s an accurate observation, but the real question is what does coach Mike McCarthy think about it? Coaches loathe distractions, and Rodgers gratuitously created one on Monday.
Last year, Rodgers didn’t appear once on McAfee’s show during the season, breaking from a habit of showing up on Tuesdays and, from time to time, spouting off on all sorts of things that prompted scrutiny and criticism. It doesn’t take a genius (which qualifies me for the job) to conclude that former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin found a way to persuade Rodgers to restrict his 2025 media appearances to the league-required midweek and post-game press conferences.
Tomlin lived it with former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, whose prior habit of making weekly appearances on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh created periodic issues that kept Tomlin from fully focusing on the task of preparing his team to win football games. Eventually, and possibly at Tomlin’s suggestion, Roethlisberger stopped doing it.
If Tomlin were still the coach in Pittsburgh, would Rodgers have gone scorched earth on Dr. Anthony Fauci and ESPN? Probably not.
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