While NFL legend Aaron Rodgers and podcast host, and former Indianapolis Colts punter, Pat McAfee are pals, it seems that the New York Jets quarterback does not appear on his show as a favor to a confidant.
The “Pat McAfee Show” has had a meteoric rise to become one of the most popular sports talk shows in the United States. The former Colts punter had a great career in the NFL, however, his run as the host of his own show has made him a mainstream star and recently earned him a multi-million dollar deal to be one of the faces of ESPN.
Related: NFL games today – Get watch times for the Week 6 action
However, one of the things that has made the wildly popular show so successful is the ability to have future Hall-of-Famer Aaron Rodgers on the podcast often. The mercurial quarterback is not a fan of interviews and rarely does them. But McAfee is the outlier that has made the legendary quarterback much more willing to give his thoughts on the sport in a public forum.
Since the two NFL veterans seem like good friends, it would be assumed that Rodgers makes his appearances on the show as a favor to McAfee. However, that does not seem to be the case, and the four-time NFL MVP is compensated very well for his guest spots on the well-known podcast.
Aaron Rodgers gets ‘more than seven figures per year’ to appear on ‘Pat McAfee Show’
On Thursday, the New York Post revealed that “Aaron Rodgers Tuesdays” and even “Nick Saban Thursdays” are only possible because McAfee shells out huge sums of money to get the football legends on his show.
“McAfee spends millions to procure these interviews,” the outlet reported. “Rodgers is receiving more than seven figures per year to come on the show each week, according to sources, while Saban is in that vaunted neighborhood.”
While it would have been nice if Rodgers enjoyed his appearances and was on the show out of the kindness of his heart. However, for a person as famous as him, time is money and it isn’t too surprising that Pat McAfee has wisely spent big money to build his brand off the popularity of the superstar quarterback over the last half-decade.