Aaron Rodgers has slowly climbed to LeBron James level when it comes to over-scrutinized athletes. His every word and look is dissected by every person in the sports world. Even with the circus Brett Favre put on he never received this level of attention and criticism.
Perhaps Aaron has brought a little of the scrutiny on himself, but it feels mostly unwarranted. He made a personal health decision during the pandemic and, just like any other old athlete, has had a tough time thinking about his future. That’s not that absurd but primarily for those two reasons he is nearly the devil in the eyes of the blue checkmarked sports mob.
It’s almost as if he’s held to a different standard than his peers. And Tom Brady has once again proven it.
Appearing on his radio show with longtime friend Jim Gray, Brady responded to a question on if he’d made a decision on the future by aggressively responding:
“If I knew what I was going to f—ing do I would’ve already f—ing done it”
Brady did follow up with “I’m taking it a day at a time. I appreciate you asking. Thank you.” but it’s clear the attitude was tense and the response was aggressive.
Just a week ago everybody was destroying Rodgers for a small quote about playing at an MVP level within a larger answer about his future. A quote that by the way was taken completely out of context. Every publication on the planet blasted Rogers for his selfishness and even compared him to Tom Brady! Brady’s former teammate Gronk even publicly criticize Rodgers without taking the time to listen to his full answer.
It’s comical when you put these two examples next to each other and consider the reactions. One guy was honestly and transparently answering a question and everybody took a small quote out of context in an effort to attack him. The other was just a jerk. And everyone kinda let it slide.
Tom Brady…the role model…the opposite of Aaron Rodgers…the team player is dropping the F word on a radio show that fans and children listen to and not a peep. No 20 minute segments on First Take. No 15 minute Skip and Shannon argument. Just a few tweets and boring articles that don’t even criticize the star quarterbacks behavior.
Let’s be clear I don’t think Brady should be criticized for this. I just think it proves the double standard. Both he and Rogers have earned the right to decide their future in a manner that makes sense to both of them. And they should be allowed to answer questions how they want without people distorting their answers in an effort to get clicks and views.
Every step of the way, Brady has been given the benefit that Rogers has not.
The double standard is getting ridiculous and Tom Brady continues to prove it exists every time he makes a misstep.
