The Pat McAfee Show hosted its first episode of the NFL season on Tuesday. And it did so without an appearance from Aaron Rodgers.
While McAfee’s long-form interviews with the 4-time NFL MVP had become one of his program’s signature segments since they first began in 2020, it appears they have now come to an end. Rodgers hinted that would likely be the case this past offseason, as he remained noncommittal about his weekly appearances during an in-person interview with McAfee during his first training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers in July.
“Will you be joining us on Tuesdays or no? Did they tell you you can’t?” McAfee asked Rodgers.
“We’ll see, yeah, we’ll see. You’re going to have to talk to [Steelers communications director] Burt [Lauten] over there,” Rodgers said with a knowing grin.
Asked a similar question later in the show, Steelers general manager Omar Khan also deferred to Lauten.
If Aaron Rodgers Tuesdays are, in fact, over, it marks the end of what had become arguably the most high profile weekly appearances in all of sports. While the interviews certainly succeeded in helping raise the profile of The Pat McAfee Show and showcasing a different side of Rodgers, they also generated no shortage of controversy for both the former All-Pro punter and Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
Such controversies included (but weren’t limited to) Rodgers’ comments regarding ABC host Jimmy Kimmel, misinformation regarding FEMA and a feud between the quarterback and ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark. It was also revealed that McAfee paid Rodgers for his weekly appearances, a move that he openly defended against criticism.
By the end of his lackluster two-season run with the New York Jets, it seemed evident that the appearances had become a source of tension between the 41-year-old and the organization. And reading between the lines of his comments at training camp, it sure sounds like the Steelers weren’t fans of the weekly interviews either and that Rodgers was more than willing to forego the appearances during what is expected to be the final season of his NFL career.
With Bill Belichick and seemingly Rodgers no longer in the fold, McAfee has spent the last couple of weeks filling his schedule with a new cast of reoccurring football guests. That list includes Rodgers’ former coach, Mike McCarthy, as well as Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule, College GameDay‘s Nick Saban and former NFL head coach Bruce Arians, who was in-studio on Tuesday.
Awful Announcing has reached out to ESPN regarding the future of Rodgers’ appearances and will update this story with any new information.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.