Aaron Rodgers might now be a meh quarterback, but give him credit: He knows how to refresh the news cycle.
For months, Rodgers had locals on the edge of their seats awaiting his decision: To play or not to play?
Rodgers got ice cream, signed and showed up at OTAs.
Then Rodgers announced that this season would be his last.
That will keep ESPN’s babble shows talking. Cue the farewell tour.
Except Rodgers won’t get one. Not likable enough. Those who like Rodgers are themselves unlikable.
Rodgers isn’t a Steeler. He’s a Green Bay Packer. He’s wearing the wrong uniform to get paid tribute.
Rodgers won only one Super Bowl. Just like Trent Dilfer. Is he a true all-time great? (Probably. But he’s no Ben Roethlisberger.)
Rodgers is under no obligation to actually retire. If he has a great season, “one more year” talk will surface, he’s younger than Tom Brady when Brady quit, etc. (But Rodgers won’t have a great season.)
Rodgers will likely follow up his “last season” announcement by appearing weekly on Pat McAfee’s show. After not doing so last year. Mike Tomlin nixed that. Mike McCarthy won’t. Crazy talk incoming.
2026 will be all Rodgers, all the time. Already is.
Rodgers is practicing for his disappearance from the public eye once he retires. (Rodgers said that’s what he’ll do. Don’t believe it.)
If the headlines slow down, Rodgers’ wife could finally be seen in public. That seems like the final card at his disposal.
Besides winning a playoff game.
Or taking a hit to make a play.
Or getting mobility transplant surgery.
Rodgers constantly being talked about isn’t his fault, though he certainly doesn’t discourage it.
It’s our fault.
We provide the demand.
Actually, you do.
I’m a supplier. The first hit’s free.
Sports media shouldn’t be 24/7/365. Myron Cope’s radio show was just two hours long and on a station that was general talk, not all sports. Pittsburgh didn’t have an all-sports radio station ‘til 1997.
What did Pittsburgh sports fans do before that?
Paid greater attention to their lives, probably, or had a more sensible, diverse range of interests.
The NFL’s intent is, indeed, to be 24/7/365, and worldwide, and they might do it. They’re close now.
Everything is an event, even occurrences that pointedly aren’t.
Consider the schedule release, which assigns a calendar to what we already knew, specifically who plays who and where. Then we predict every team’s game-by-game results adding up to a record.
We do that in May.
For what starts in September and ends in January.
Because there’s a lot of time and space to fill. ESPN operates nine linear networks, streaming, a web site, etc.
When a few of the NFL season’s very first games leaked, ESPN broke down matchups for those games on “Get Up,” their weekday morning show. Because the depth charts then will be exactly the same as projected now. Nobody ever gets hurt, cut or traded.
We also assign importance to franchises based on how many prime-time games they get. (Don’t the results matter more?)
There’s too much sports.
Even worse, there’s too much Stephen A. Smith.
He’s got a TV show. A radio show. He’s all over ESPN. Smith is even more omnipresent and insufferable than McAfee.
Smith talks about running for president. I hope he does, and wins. He’d be easier to ignore and irritate me far less.
McAfee is far more influential, though. The king of the softball question, McAfee gets big-name guests because he plays buddy-buddy. It’s a safe space.
But that style produces results. McAfee just allows guests to talk and, occasionally, one organically says something nuts.
Which brings us back to Rodgers.
When it comes to replenishing the news cycle, Rodgers can count on me.
When in doubt, talk/write about the quarterback.
I do it far less than most.
And I do it a lot.