Aaron Rodgers has already helped the Green Bay Packers clinch the No. 1 seed and the lone bye in the NFC before Week 18. He’s well on his way to earning back-to-back MVP awards in the process. Yet the voting process deciding the MVP remains flawed after what Hub Arkush spit out on Tuesday.
Hub Arkush is a 68-year-old analyst for various outlets in Chicago. He does most of his work covering the Chicago Bears. What a shocker it was, then, when Arkush went on 670TheScore in Chicago on Tuesday and spewed a bunch of contradictory nonsense about why Rodgers won’t even be on his ballot.
“I don’t think you can be the biggest jerk in the league and punish your team, and your organization and your fan base the way he did and be the Most Valuable Player,” Arkush said. “Has he been the most valuable on the field? Yeah, you could make that argument, but I don’t think he is clearly that much more valuable than Jonathan Taylor or Cooper Kupp.”
Let’s start with this banger of an opener from Arkush. He says Rodgers punished his team. Newsflash, Hub: This is a results-oriented business. Did Rodgers have the entire organization hanging out in purgatory this offseason for an extended period? Yes. Did it affect what happened on the field once he returned this year? Obviously not. It doesn’t take a lot of elaborate statistical metrics to figure out that the leader of the squad with the best record in the league and the only bye in the NFC didn’t “punish his team.”
Arkush then goes on to say that, yes, you could make the argument that Rodgers has been the most valuable player. Hey, buddy, that’s what the award is. You’re not voting on the Walter Payton Man of the Year or handing over a Nobel Peace Prize to Rodgers. It’s the Most Valuable Player Award, for which you say there’s a clear argument to be made for Rodgers winning.
If you think that part was contradictory, it only gets worse.
“We are told to pick the guy who we think is most valuable to his team. And I don’t think it says anywhere, ‘strictly on the field,’ although I do think he hurt his team on the field by the way he acted off the field. They’re gonna get the No. 1 seed anyway, but what if the difference had come down to the Chiefs game, where he lied about being vaccinated, and they ended up getting beat?”
Way to find some nonexistent loophole, Hub.
The league tells voters to pick the guy who is most valuable to his team. Arkush weasels his way into believing that can mean off-the-field matters too. Look, you’re not going to find many that argue in Rodgers’ defense for misleading the media by saying he was “immunized” when he wasn’t vaccinated. Doing that was as shady as it gets, but it clearly didn’t affect this team.
Hub goes on to bury his head deeper in the sand by saying Rodgers hurt his team on the field by how he acted off of it, then immediately says, “They’re gonna get the one seed anyway.” So, what are we even talking about here, Hub?
One of the most irritating things about many of these voters is the importance they anoint themselves with for having one of the votes. The MLB Hall of Fame voting process has become a complete laugher. Every voter believes their opinion on how the steroid era should be treated is the right one. The same can be said about many of the voters in Hub’s shoes. They go on power trips for getting to cast one of the votes. Arkush thinks he can prop himself up on a throne and preach to everyone why Rodgers isn’t the MVP while saying he is the MVP.
Hub wrapped up his moronic rambling with one final point.
“I just think that the way he’s carried himself is inappropriate,” Arkush said. “I think he’s a bad guy, and I don’t think a bad guy can be the most valuable guy at the same time.”
To reiterate one more time for those in the back: What Rodgers did to mislead everyone into believing he was vaccinated was stupid and greasy. But it had no effect on this team, that is clear. Every single teammate who is asked about Rodgers continues to rave about him and his leadership and what he means to the franchise. Separate the two; they do not coincide. Had Green Bay gone 8-9 this year after 13-3 a year ago, the Rodgers fiasco could’ve absolutely played a part. But sports isn’t the could’ve, would’ve, should’ve, what if industry. The facts are the Packers are 13-3 again, and Rodgers has been flat-out dominant. Those numbers speak for themselves.
So, what’s the solution to old, crusty media voters who shouldn’t be able to hold a ballot in their leathery hands?
First off, players and coaches should have a say. Wouldn’t we all value the opinion of Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, Tom Brady, and Patrick Mahomes far more than the Hub Arkushes of the world? Give the players and coaches more say in who wins these awards and give us all less of Hub Arkush and his outmoded opinions.
