At a time when many assume Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will emerge from 96 hours of voluntary solitary confinement with plans to play for the Jets, a former player who knows a lot about what the New York media is saying about Pro athletes report that Rodgers won. I can’t deal with the things that are bound to be written and said about him there.
Former Giants running back Tiki Barber, who responded to Rodgers’ recent complaints about reporting from Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter on his WFAN radio show, suggested that Rodgers was too sensitive to tolerate the intensity of the Big Apple’s massive spotlight .
“If he’s sensitive enough to get upset that people, reporters, opinion leaders, influencers, whoever, want to talk about him, he’s going to fight in New York,” Barber said via SI.com. “And I don’t know if it’s right for him. I don’t know if I want him in New York if that’s going to be his reaction to things that don’t matter.”
Barber reiterated a point made here after Rodgers ranted that Rapoport and Schefter “know nothing” about him.
“If Aaron Rodgers doesn’t want people talking about him, about his offseason, about his personal life, about all these things that are happening to Aaron Rodgers, he has to stop talking,” Barber said.
“If you go and do something that feels odd to normal society — which consists of sitting in a cabin in the woods in total sensory isolation for four days, [the media is] will talk about it. You need to. It’s our job. And lest he be offended by that, he’s not going to deal with the intensity of the New York media landscape — that’s obviously traditional media, social media and everything else — when he’s here.”
Amen to all of this. Rodgers is like so many athletes and celebrities who want fame and attention on their own terms. All the praise without the criticism.
hey guys look at me . . What the hell are you looking at?
For selfish reasons, I want Rodgers to play for the Jets. It’s good for business. Even if it’s bad for the Jets and Rodgers.
In fact, here is the first topic for an intense scrutiny of if/when Rodgers will agree to play for Woody Johnson’s team. Rodgers recently argued that media outlets portrayed him as a villain under direct orders from Big Pharma. Johnson’s fortune came directly from one of the three companies that made a COVID vaccine (Johnson & Johnson). During Rodgers’ opening press conference, someone will inevitably ask if it’s hypocritical for Rodgers to take a paycheck indirectly from a large pharmaceutical conglomerate he’s apparently very angry at.
In other cities the question would not be asked. In New York you can count on it.
Continue reading