The controversial claim that the much-discussed Jeffrey Epstein client list doesn’t exist would not ordinarily overlap with the NFL. But there’s not much about Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers that is ordinary.
In early 2024, Rodgers stirred up a firestorm of controversy for Pat McAfee and ESPN by suggesting that ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s name appears on the Epstein list.
“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that [Epstein list] doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said on McAfee’s show. That prompted Kimmel to threaten to sue Rodgers.
McAfee apologized for his involvement in the situation. ESPN called Rodgers’s remark a “dumb and factually inaccurate joke.” Rodgers whined about ESPN’s comment.
The broader point is this. Rodgers’s in-season habit of appearing every Tuesday on McAfee’s show has been more trouble than it’s worth. If Rodgers is serious about being fully focused on football during what he’s “pretty sure” will be his best season, the team’s best interests (and his own) would include avoiding a platform in which he gets way too comfortable and says way too many things that will potentially cause way too much criticism and distraction from the task of winning as many football games as possible.
It’s against our best interests to say that. Rodgers is good for business. If he sticks to his midweek and post-game press conferences, the season will be far less interesting.
The end of the season is likely to be far more interesting for the Steelers if Rodgers were to commit to making the week-to-week experience less interesting, by avoiding situations in which the smartest guy in the room might say something stupid.