Not a fan of the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
Aaron Rodgers is obviously a polarizing figure in the NFL, never afraid to speak his mind on controversial issues or take shots at his critics. And last month, he made headlines (and reportedly ruffled some feathers at ESPN) when he called out the network on one of their own shows.
The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback went scorched earth earlier this week during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, calling out Dr. Anthony Fauci for his testimony (or lack thereof) in front of Congress, and the media for their coverage of Rodgers and his stance on the COVID vaccine.
During the interview, Rodgers called out the double standard in the doctor getting a pass for his failure to answer questions, while the media demanded answers from the quarterback:
“How much time did the network spend on that? How much time did they spend on my responses every week, on my vaccination status, on Taylor and Travis’s wedding? Did they do even a minute on Tony Fauci? Nah, I bet they didn’t.”
He then called out ESPN – the network that airs McAfee’s show – directly, for failing to adequately cover the scandal that erupted over the relationship between former NFL reporter Dianna Russini and New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel earlier this year:
“There was another scandal this offseason too, involving a voter for MVP, for Coach of the Year. How much time did your network spend on that?”
Awkward…
Now, ESPN has no control over McAfee’s show: The network pays for the rights to license the show, so it’s up to McAfee to decide which guests he has on and what is said. But after the exchange, the network reportedly wasn’t happy with the Steelers QB, with some employees even hoping that the Steelers don’t make the Super Bowl (which is on ESPN this year) so they don’t have to cover him.
But that doesn’t mean Rodgers is going to stop calling them out.
The 42-year-old quarterback sat down for an episode of Not Just Football with Cam Heyward, where he once again took aim at the network, calling them “gutless” and questioning why they were so quick to cover up the Russini scandal.
In case you don’t remember, the whole thing started when pictures surfaced of Russini, who was the NFL reporter for The Athletic at the time, on a seemingly private getaway with Vrabel during Super Bowl week. The two (who are both married to other people) denied that the photos showed anything improper, and claimed they were just friends, but Russini was ultimately let go from the publication and since then photos have surfaced showing the two kissing at a bar as far back as 2020, and even renting a private boat together while Russini was pregnant with her son Michael.
Of course two people having an affair wouldn’t be the biggest scandal in the world, but Russini covered the NFL (and the New England Patriots) as part of her job, and questions immediately arose over whether she was given insider information due to her relationship with Vrabel. And she was also a voter for AP Coach of the Year – which Vrabel won last year, narrowly beating out Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen.
But Rodgers believes that ESPN tried to sweep what became one of the biggest stories in sports under the rug to protect their own interests:
“ESPN is really scared, because I can speak up and speak my mind. And that McAfee thing really rattled their feathers. … I also said, you’re a gutless organization, because they haven’t said anything. They spend so much time on certain issues but you won’t talk one second about the Dianna Russini situation?”
Rodgers points out the network’s wall-to-wall coverage of San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York’s recent prostitution arrest while contrasting it with ESPN’s relative silence on the Russini scandal:
“That was the featured story. So, you bring in how many millions of eyes to that situation. Why do you want to throw Jed York under the bus? I don’t know. But does that have the same effect as a reporter who has intimate relations with a coach, who has a vote for MVP, has a vote for coach of the year. I don’t know if she’s on the Hall of Fame or not, but there’s voting stuff. There was the thing about Morgan Moses going from the Jets to the New England that was posted a day early. How many other inside stuff was shared? …
The fact that ESPN spent zero time on that story, but Jed York gets popped in San Fran, it’s literally on the top of their role right now. That’s hypocrisy.”
And the quarterback also speculates that there’s more to the story that we may not have heard about, which ESPN has an interest in keeping hidden now that the network has acquired the NFL Network in a deal that also gave the NFL 10% ownership in ESPN:
“I think there’s a lot more to it. The NFL is going to protect the shield and I respect that, but they’re going to do by all means necessary.”
Safe to say we won’t be seeing Aaron Rodgers on SportsCenter any time soon.
