Maybe it’s because he stands up to a national media that likes to create false storylines? Maybe it’s because he’d rather go on Pat McAfee and Joe Rogan than ESPN and Fox Sports? Maybe it’s because he’d rather talk about Ayahuasca and his personal life journey than ponder whatever intentionally divisive football talker you’re trying to put in his face?
Whatever the reason, there seems to be a clear double standard by which Aaron Rodgers is treated. The recent events with Tom Brady have once again highlighted this phenomenon.
After missing portions of the off-season, Brady took an additional 11 day absence from the pre season. When he finally chose to speak on it, his statement was simple and vague.
“It’s all personal, you know. Everyone’s got different situations that they’re dealing with. We all have really unique challenges to our life. I’m 45 years old, man. There’s a lot of s–t going on, so just gotta figure out life the best you can. It’s a continuous process.”
The media originally completely respected his privacy. As they should. But if this were Aaron Rodgers, do you really believe he would be getting the same treatment? If Aaron missed a half of a day of practice for a non specific personal reason you’d have every blue checkmark on the internet tweeting about it. If he missed 11 days, he’d be on the FBI’s !0 Most Wanted List?
Nearly a week and a half later news has finally leaked that all is likely not well in Tom Brady’s relationship. And although it’s making headlines, it’s barely a blip on the radar. Shailene Woodley’s vacation tweets got more attention on sports radio than this situation.
Again, I can’t stress enough that I think Brady deserves respect and privacy as he deals with whatever he needs to deal with. But are we going to sit here and pretend that if Aaron Rodgers were to leave practice to deal with a relationship situation that everybody would be cool with it?
How did we get to the point where Tom Brady is the golden boy, despite several different football cheating allegations, and Aaron Rodgers is the biggest villain in the league because he’s been indecisive in the offseason and wanted to make a private health decision?
I don’t want to turn this entire article into whataboutism but, we should also talk about Deshaun Watson.
Watson’s trials and tribulations have certainly received their fair share of attention. But when you set it side-by-side next to the “immunization” controversy it’s almost comical.
On one hand you have a player who was accused of an outrageous amount of sexual assaults, an organization that certainly played a role in the problem, and a new organization who said “who cares” and gave him the best contract in NFL history. On the other hand you have a guy who was accused of lying because no one was smart enough to follow up when he honestly answered a question about a personal health decision. Yet despite the insane disparity in these two situations, Rodgers got a ridiculous amount of negative attention comparatively. Hell, Rodgers’ calm and thoughtful explanation on Joe Rogan‘s podcast got more attention than Watson’s suspension.
Can you imagine what the media would do if one person accused Rodgers of what so many accused Watson?
You could go on and on and on. Russell Wilson was allowed to coast from the Seahawks to the Broncos without anyone accusing him of being anything other than a great team guy. Kirk Cousins, who had a far more extreme view on Covid than Rodgers, got the virus last season before the most important game of their year and it was barely mentioned.
This is a man who has put together one of the most impressive careers in NFL history and with another great season could elevate himself even further. Imagine a 3rd straight MVP season at this age. Outrageous.
He’s solid off the field. He has never been even close to a legal scandal. He’s a good person in the community(but never wants attention). Let’s stop the madness.
We get it, national media, you don’t like Aaron. He doesn’t fit in your box. He doesn’t have the ideals and morals that you so desperately wish to push on every other person in society. But can we please get over this double standard BS. It’s getting old. And it’s so obviously ridiculous when it’s put on display.
