Twenty years in the NFL and a Cal education and an intellect he's fond of flaunting and quarterback Aaron Rodgers still doesn't get it.
Green Bay Packers fans enjoyed his four MVP's but they know the bit.
New York Jets fans just saw him "lead'' them to a 5-12 season, so they learned.
Now that Rodgers, at 41 off to Pittsburgh as the starting QB of the Steelers in 2025 before retirement, one more fan base is about to figure it out.
Rodgers, who is said to be worth $200 million as a result of being in the NFL spotlight, just made a recent appearance of the Pat McAfee show on ESPN (which last time we checked pays him $1 million annually to appear) and he used the platform to blast those who seek information about his personal life and professional life.
Take it away, Aaron ...
"The entitlement to information about my private life is so (expletive) ridiculous and embarrassing,"Rodgers said. "Like, hey, do what you've got to do, but try and leave me out of a conversation, sports world, for a month. Try and just leave me out, my personal life, my professional life, try not to talk about me ... for the next six weeks, five weeks, whatever it is.
"Just see if you can do that."
Our reply? No. We cannot do that.
We can't do it because it is our job to chronicle All Thing Aaron, from the highs in Green Bay to when he tore his Achilles in the first quarter of his first game with the Jets to last season when he recorded an empty total of 3,897 yards and 28 touchdowns to now, when he is a pivot point of the Steelers' playoff hopes.
Rodgers, like many celebrities, wants it both ways.
The fame and the fortune, but only on their terms.
"Privacy'' while dating actresses and supermodels and starring in a TV show (see "Enigma.'')
A "don't look at me'' attitude while - in Aaron Rodgers' case - pitching loony life philosophies and conjuring up offensive conspiracy theories and considering a run for The White House.
ou want to play QB in the NFL but you want to do it in hiding? Really?
There are boundaries of respect, and if fans and reporters are hiding in the bushes of celebrities' backyards? Yeah, that's "entitlement, ridiculous and embarrassing.''
And illegal.
But short of that?
The hypocritical truth, as Rodgers insists that when his NFL career is over, "You won't see me.''?
""When this is all done, it's Keyser Söze. You won't see me," referring to the secretive villain in "The Usual Suspects." "I won't be in the public. I don't want to live a public life. ... I'm not going to be in the public eye. When this is done, I'm done, and you won't see me. And I'm looking forward to that."
In a very real sense, Aaron? We're kind of looking forward to that, too.