Aaron Rodgers hasn’t officially appeared on The Pat McAfee Show until he says something to put himself at odds with the media.
It’s a never-ending cycle. Rodgers talks to McAfee on Tuesday as if it’s a private conversation, and Rodgers gets grilled by reporters on Wednesday over something controversial he said 24 hours earlier.
His latest gripe with the press stemmed from him passive-aggressively calling out some of his younger teammates during his weekly segment with McAfee. Rodgers responded to his media critics with the self-defense of “I don’t understand why people have a problem with things that are truthful.”
When that didn’t seem to lessen the line in the sand between Rodgers and his critics, Colin Cowherd offered a simple solution for the often-controversial Green Bay Packers quarterback and his repeated bouts with reporters. Cowherd’s proposal? Treat media like they’re the IRS.
"He talks. He's a content creator. He's a human TikTok." @ColinCowherd is talking Aaron Rodgers pic.twitter.com/i4hYosaCbl
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) October 27, 2022
“There’s a reason people have PR firms and PR people. Not everything is for public consumption,” Cowherd said on his Thursday afternoon Fox Sports Radio show. “I’ve never had a problem if I ask an athlete something and they say, ‘I don’t want to talk about that.’”
“Not everything’s for me,” Cowherd continued. “I’m media. I’m like the IRS, I’m auditing constantly. The media and the IRS are not built to be loved, they’re built to monitor. And sometimes you should keep stuff away from us. A lot of people in the media are naïve and think they have the right to all the answers. Not really.”
The media might not love Cowherd’s blunt truth, but the IRS is probably chomping at the bit after that declaration. Plenty of people are careful with what they disclose to the IRS, but they don’t broadcast it on a national TV or radio show.
Cowherd’s sentiment is fair, however, Rodgers would have a much better relationship with the media, and maybe even some of his teammates, if he was more selective about what he said during podcast appearances. But Rodgers doesn’t seem inclined to go back to hiding his individualistic attitude, which will only force him to continue receiving these media audits.
[The Herd]