It is absolutely ludicrous that we have to put out an article conveying this information but that unfortunately is how the Aaron Rodgers saga works. So hear us loud and clear because we come bearing facts. Mark Murphy was JOKING about being “sworn to secrecy” on the Aaron Rodgers deal. Much like Rodgers’ “wish list” and Jordan Loves potential off-season trade demand, these were all pieces of information with a tiny bit of truth blown up into a narrative that didn’t represent the actual information.
Like all NFL front offices the Green Bay Packers value their privacy but Mark Murphy’s comments yesterday were taken out of context by everyone from Sports Illustrated through CNN. Murphy’s remarks were merely jokes made at a tech conference.
When asked about the Packers off-season plans Murphy interjected while laughing “Yeah and you know, we’ve got no other news really going on…I would love to tell you everything you want to know about Aaron Rodgers and the Jets, but I’m sworn to secrecy not to say anything.”
Here is the actual video from the event for you to watch.
Now look at how CNN conveyed that same information.
“We’ve got no other news that is really going on,” Murphy laughed, before moving onto the topic everyone wanted to discuss.
“I’d love to tell you everything you want to know about Aaron Rodgers and the Jets but I’m under sworn secrecy not to say anything.”
It’s very close but by insinuating Murphy laughed at the first part and then using “before moving onto” to separate out the second part they have misrepresented the tone of his remarks.
And of course resident Packer hater Mike Florio completely removed the laughter in an article.
“I would love to tell you everything you want to know about Aaron Rodgers and the Jets but I’m sworn to secrecy not to say anything,” Murphy said at a Tech Summit at Lambeau Field on Monday, via Fox 11.
Ridiculous.
Even the publications that accurately reflected the humor of his remarks in the article didn’t do so in the titles. Everyone from Fox News to New York Post.
I’m not saying Mark Murphy is a genius, or that he is going to outmaneuver Joe Douglas and the Jets in the Aaron Rodgers trade. What I am saying is he didn’t say what everybody’s saying he said the way they’re saying he said it.
It would be easy to dismiss this if every aspect of the Rodgers scenario wasn’t blown up in such a non-accurate way. But it bounces from publication to publication and loses the translation of humor and before you know it fans around the league are building opinions on Rodgers and the Packers front office based completely off nonsense.
There’s been a lot of strange with this whole thing, but don’t be fooled into believing that everything the national media or Twitter is telling you is accurately reported.
