| Aaron Rodgers is everywhere. The National Football League’s MVP is also its Most Viewed Personality. There is no escaping Aaron Rodgers because, at the minute, it is all Aaron Rodgers, all the time. All of which is completely miserable if you are a Chicago Bears fan and you really want to pretend that he doesn’t exist. After all, it’s difficult to keep up such a pretense when he’s on all those commercials, all over your Twitter feed, and when every day brings a fresh twist of intrigue. It’s probably not much fun either if you’re a Green Bay Packers supporter wondering, what the heck is going on and how long your quarterback is going to be in town. For everyone else, it is great. No, really, it is. It is great in the kind of way that you don’t want to admit to. Because Aaron Rodgers is reality TV, and no one admits to liking reality TV, but we’ve all watched it at some point and not been able to turn it off. What Rodgers reveals and what he allows you to see and hear is a tease. It is a tiny peek behind the curtain before the drapes are snapped back shut again. He likes it that way and don’t for a second believe otherwise. Only Rodgers knows what’s truly happening with all the strands of his life that get perused and examined on a constant basis, but he sure as heck wants to keep you guessing and keep you talking about it. According to reports, Rodgers is close to a decision. Will he come back to Green Bay? Or go to the Denver Broncos, Washington Commanders, San Francisco 49ers or some other place? Will he retire? Will he decamp to Nepal and launch No. 12 Spiritual Retreats and Manbuns LLC? Who knows? And who cares? Well, er … everyone, if we’re being honest. Love him or hate him – and there are vast numbers of both – Rodgers is the gift that keeps on giving if you’re someone that likes talking and speculating about not just football but everything that goes on surrounding the game. “I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being followed by Aaron Rodgers. Not in a cease-and-desist way … well, actually, yes, exactly in a cease-and-desist way,” wrote columnist Rick Morrissey in the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s not enough that he’s been in Chicago’s head for 14 years, not enough that, as he famously shouted to the world this season, he owns the Bears and their fans. “Oh, no, not even close to enough. He’s elbowed his way into my life in so many other ways that I’ve lost count. And I don’t recall sending an invitation to him or his elbow.” On Tuesday morning, there were growing rumors that Rodgers would use his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show to release details on his decision regarding his football future. The previous night, he posted a cryptic social media message that put Twitter sleuths on alert, one of the photographs being a picture of Randall Cobb and Davante Adams, plus a gap where Rodgers would normally stand. Oooooooh (cue spooky music). Yeah, turned out to be nothing. For now. When it comes to Rodgers, we end up talking about things that could only be storylines about him, and no other NFL quarterback. They’re just not within the normal purview of football-themed discussions. On McAfee, for example, tongues were soon sent wagging about the 12-day cleanse Rodgers revealed he had just completed. It took only a little research to discover that the Panchakarma method involves forced vomiting, shooting liquid up the nostrils and, wait for it, a special enema where oils get inserted up the bu … stop, just look it up if you want to know more. The conversation also sparked chatter about Shailene Woodley, Rodgers’ former fiancée until their split last week. Yet Rodgers used the show to pay a glowing tribute to Woodley, giving her credit for how, in the two years they spent together, he had won two MVPs. Then a woman’s voice was heard in the background of Rodgers’ segment, laughing, and boom, suddenly some gossip to fill both the sports pages and the entertainment blogs was in the air. Rodgers has been in the news at different times over his misleading comments regarding his vaccination status, he didn’t like that a sports writer called him a jerk so he called the guy a bum, and before that, he was linked with a switch to be the full-time Jeopardy host. These aren’t normal stories for an NFL player and if you’ve had the thought that Rodgers’ life sometimes comes across as a parody, you’re not the the only one. But one thing is for certain, it’s not going to slow down. Some kind of decision is likely pending, and before long one of the NFL’s most pertinent offseason decisions will be answered. Yet do you think that will be the last we will be speaking about, joking about, speculating, postulating and just plain shaking our head about what’s going on with Aaron Rodgers? Don’t count on it. He’s not going to let it go quiet because he doesn’t want it to. And neither – and it’s OK to admit it – do we. |
