The Unbearable Weight of Massive Ego

An Aaron Rodgers exploration.

If you are a sports and NFL fan, you obviously know all about Aaron Rodgers. The Cal alumnus who would prefer you don’t remember he went to school in Berkeley, the guy who lied to the NFL about his vaccinations, then explained it by essentially saying that he is smarter than the global science community?

Also, one of the most talented NFL quarterbacks in the history of the league?

Yeah, that guy.

Last offseason he was traded to the Jets, a decision he delayed for an unnecessary amount of time which kept the story going for weeks. This, it seems, would be a trend. We quickly learned that almost certainly as part of his deal, he was able to convince the franchise to also hire and sign his offensive coordinator of choice (Nate Hackett), his receivers of choice (Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard) and his backup QB of choice (Tim Boyle). It’s worth also noting that none of these could possibly be considered smart team decisions.

Of course, on the third offensive play of the season, Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon. And this stunk not just for Jets fans, not just for fantasy football team managers (cough) but apparently, mostly it stunk for Aaron Rodgers.

Because there’s very little Rodgers seems to like less than NOT being talked about.

How else to explain his weekly appearances on the Pat McAfee Show (yes, he’s paid for it, but he doesn’t need the money) where he can cause controversy by calling Travis Kelce “Mr. Pfizer” - something Kelce brushed off by barely acknowledging it - or feed reporters stories about how he was beating science and would rejoin the Jets before the end of the season?

If nothing else, what we saw this season was how much “NFL Insiders” like Ian Rapaport and Adam Schefter rely on their relationships with guys like Rodgers so that they get tips FIRST (which is their job). It causes guys like Rodgers to exploit that to get HIS message out, which is how we saw consistent stories about how Rodgers was beating the odds, how if the Jets could JUST stay in the playoff picture he would be able to get back on the field for when it mattered. Folks who like Rodgers, who maybe share his feelings politically, etc., rejoiced and ate this up.

Others, like me, thought this was exceptionally convenient framing - because it was clear, almost immediately, that without Rodgers the Jets were in a lot of trouble. And as the season went on, making the playoffs was increasingly unlikely - but if you believed what you read, you’d think Rodgers was on the precipice of returning.

There was even a story that he made a one-handed interception in practice, filling in as a linebacker. I implore you to ask WHY on earth this would ever happen, even if he was NOT coming back from a devastating injury? (News flash: It almost assuredly didn’t happen.)

Reporters like this rely on relationships, and it often gets awkward. Here is Schefter almost certainly parroting Deshaun Watson’s agent after Watson did not get charged (but almost certainly did some awful things for which he was credibly accused):

So I don’t truly blame these guys for printing what Rodgers wanted them to. I don’t blame guys like McAfee or Joe Rogan for giving Rodgers a platform to boast about idiotic things (though I wish less people listened blindly to those guys).

But I blame the rest of the media for taking any of this seriously. Because, of course, when we got to the time when Rodgers was in theory ready to play, we found out that … nah, not really.

Oh, really? You don’t say! Who could have possibly predicted that?

And, it actually gets worse. Because despite the fact Rodgers cannot play a game for the Jets, he wanted to practice with the team. Why is that so bad? Because of this …

Nick Bawden is a fullback who has earned almost $4MM in his six year career, which is indeed a lot for a guy almost nobody has heard of. But he’s not a guy with a guaranteed future, and he could actually contribute in games this season. Rodgers can’t - and has already earned (just in NFL contracts, not in endorsements, etc.) almost $350,000,000, with another $75,000,000 guaranteed over the next two seasons. It feels absolutely mean-spirited to kick a guy like Bawden out the door just to feel important and needed.

This entire season as it relates to Aaron Rodgers has been an exercise in stroking his ego, and I’m honestly not here for it. I rarely root for injuries, but honestly if he re-injured himself in practice this season I absolutely would find it karmic justice.