From time to time, people will say that Aaron Rodgers lives in the heads of various media members, rent free. The opposite may be the truth.
For someone who claims he doesn’t pay attention to the things said about him, Rodgers seems to know everything that is said about him.
On Wednesday, Rodgers complained during his appearance with Pat McAfee about reports that Rodgers has a “wish list” of potential Jets teammates. In so doing, Rodgers distorted accounts of a “wish list” into a list of specific demands that he made, with an “or else” attached.
No one ever reported that.
It was a list of names. Names that surely included the very names he rattled off in January when talking about the players he’d like the Packers to keep.
“Do I love those guy on the list?” Rodgers said Wednesday. “Of course. Do I make demands about certain people? I mean, it’s just . . . . And it goes to this, like, people want these things to be so true. They’re like I’m in this meeting dressed in ceremony [sic] regalia, giving them some sort of like handwritten on parchment demand list of people they need to sign. . . . I don’t have demands.
“Look, my only demand is for transparency. And if you same some bullshit, like sometimes it’s not even worth . . . . But like I said, I can’t remember exactly — something that [Ian] Rapoport said or some shit. When something gets out there and assumed to be true, then it can take on a life of its own. It can go from, ‘Oh, there’s a conversation about 20 different players’ to ‘Oh, he wants these guys to be signed, otherwise he doesn’t want to come.'”
Again, no one ever reported that. It’s always been characterized as aspirational, not mandatory. And it shouldn’t be a surprise. Indeed, Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner said last week that, if Rodgers joins the Jets, there will be “package deals.”
But, still, Rodgers is determined to characterize the reports as being something other than what they were. And he seems to derive enjoyment from calling out specific reporters by name.
“Ask [Adam] Schefter what I texted him when he somehow got my number and texted me,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t respond to Dianna Russini, I think her name is. . . . But, like, I would say the same thing that I told Schefty. ‘Lose my number. Nice try.'”
On Wednesday, Aaron engaged in a not-so-nice try to make it look like reporters were reporting things they weren’t. And if that’s the attitude he’ll be taking to the biggest media market in the world, well, I’d better get a bigger popcorn popper.