The New York Jets enter Week 15 of the NFL with a road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The two teams entered the year with playoff aspirations but are now both 3-10 and playing a game that could have major ramifications for the top 10 picks in the 2025 NFL draft.
As the Jets look to end their four-game losing streak, quarterback Aaron Rodgers made his weekly appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on ESPN Tuesday afternoon. The four-time NFL MVP took aim at the network during his segment and criticized how sports media has changed during his career.
‘The ‘SportsCenter’ of my youth, those guys made highlights so much fun and that’s what they showed,’ Rodgers said. ‘Now it’s all talk shows and people whose opinions are so important now and they believe they’re the celebrities now.’
He went on to say those people, who no one remembers from their playing careers, have sports opinions that are ‘unfounded or asinine.’
Since that segment, multiple people at ESPN have responded, including NFL analyst Mina Kimes and commentator Stephen A. Smith. But longtime Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark made the most assertive response to what Rodgers said during ESPN’s ‘First Take’ program on Friday.
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Here’s what Rodgers said and Clark’s response.
Aaron Rodgers’ ESPN criticism
Rodgers frequently appears on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Tuesdays and this week was no different. During the segment, his former Green Bay Packers teammate-turned-analyst A.J. Hawk asked how the NFL has changed during Rodgers’ 20-year career.
Rodgers argued the biggest change is about how the sport is covered by the media.
“There’s a lot of people talking about the game now, both non-former players and former players who are trying to stay relevant fame-wise,’ Rodgers said. ‘So the takes and the criticism I think are a lot different than they were maybe in the mid-2000s.’
Rodgers clarified he wasn’t talking about the show’s host, Pat McAfee, who spent eight years in the NFL as a punter before launching his show. McAfee made the Pro Bowl in 2014 and 2016 and was a first-team All-Pro in 2014.
“I’m talking about these experts on TV who nobody remembers what they did in their career,” Rodgers said. “So in order for them to stay relevant, they have to make comments that keep them in the conversation. That wasn’t going on in 2008, 2009, that was nonexistent.
‘Now it’s all talk shows and people whose opinions are so important now and they believe they’re the celebrities now. They’re the stars for just being able to talk about sports or give a take about sports, many of which are unfounded or asinine, as we all know.’
He acknowledged that those shows, gambling and fantasy football have driven interest in the sport and that’s led to higher salaries for players. He also argued the league has ‘better athletes with a less violent game’ but with a lower overall football IQ due to less practice time during the offseason.
McAfee didn’t press Rodgers to name any specific people on talk shows who warrant his criticism. Instead, he continued on about Rodgers’ point about lower football IQ, citing longtime NFL quarterback Tom Brady’s argument that coaches ‘dumb the game down’ for rookie quarterbacks to play as soon as possible.
Ryan Clark’s response to Aaron Rodgers
Rodgers’ criticism of sports media was a segment for the next few days on ‘First Take,’ culminating in Clark’s response Friday morning.
“I find it extremely funny that he’s saying this on a show with a man, who as great as he was as a punter, is far more famous as a pundit in Pat McAfee,” Clark said. “A.J. Hawk, who I felt like was a good player, is now on TV, and he gets to give his thoughts as well.’
Clark went on to say that Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL but isn’t at that level any more and people are willing to say it on national broadcasts. Clark argued that Rodgers is now doing exactly what he’s criticizing other players for, noting that Rodgers is now being paid for his appearances on McAfee’s show.
‘My issue with him is you’re doing the exact same thing,’ Clark said. ‘And the reason you’re getting this opportunity to say these asinine things is because someone is paying you who is exactly the same thing that you’re now speaking out against.”
McAfee has confirmed Rodgers has made more than $1 million for his segments.
“This dude is once again tone-deaf,” Clark continued. ‘This dude is once again unaware. This dude is once again arrogant to a point that’s almost sickening because he says these things, and he talks tough, and he behaves in his way, but he ain’t.
‘This dude is a fraud. He’s been a fraud. He can throw a football and that’s where it stops. Once that talent ends … so does he. And to sit up there, man, and to be just blatantly hypocritical is funny and sickening at the same time.”
Cam Newton, the 2015 NFL MVP who’s now a commentator on ‘First Take,’ agreed with Clark’s criticism and added that Rodgers is not used to being a position where his team’s record and individual statistics don’t make him one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
‘It’s awkward for him,’ Newton said. ‘Hypocritical is the best analogy for it.’