Well, we can rule out Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers being a unanimous choice to win his second consecutive NFL MVP.
On the field, there’s very little question that Rodgers has been the most valuable player to his team in the NFL. He has the Pack at 13-3 and is putting up another banner regular season.
None of this matters to longtime writer Hub Arkush, who has one of the 50 votes for NFL MVP this season. Appearing on 670 The Score in Chicago, the veteran scribe made it clear he will not be voting for Aaron Rodgers to win the MVP award. Arkush has a rather interesting reason why, too.
“I don’t think you can be the biggest jerk in the league and punish your team, and your organization and your fan base the way he did and be the Most Valuable Player,” Arkush said (h/t Pro Football Talk). “Has he been the most valuable on the field? Yeah, you could make that argument, but I don’t think he is clearly that much more valuable than Jonathan Taylor or Cooper Kupp or maybe even Tom Brady. So from where I sit, the rest of it is why he’s not gonna be my choice.”
Arkush went on to note that he thinks Rodgers will come away with the award. However, he also made it clear that the league has no guidelines set for the 50 voters.
“There’s no guidelines,” Arkush said. “We are told to pick the guy who we think is most valuable to his team. And I don’t think it says anywhere, ‘strictly on the field,’ although I do think he hurt his team on the field by the way he acted off the field. They’re gonna get the No. 1 seed anyway, but what if the difference had come down to the Chiefs game, where he lied about being vaccinated, and they ended up getting beat?”
The scribe is pointing to Rodgers being sidelined for a Week 9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs after testing positive for COVID-19.
While the quarterback was not fined or suspended for misleading the league when it came to his vaccination status, the Packers were fined for violating NFL COVID-19 protocols surrounding the quarterback.
Related: Aaron Rodgers and NFL MVP odds
Should Aaron Rodgers be penalized for spat with the media?
That’s pretty much what this comes down to. It’s not dissimilar to standoffish figures being punished by said media when Hall of Fame voting happens. Terrell Owens would be a prime example of that around the NFL world.
However, this shouldn’t be a popularity contest. It’s all about who was indeed the most valuable player to his team in the NFL. Statistically, that was Mr. Rodgers. At the very least, when it comes to the all-important quarterback position.
- Aaron Rodgers stats: 68.6% completion, 3,977 yards, 35 touchdowns, four interceptions, 111.1 rating
- Tom Brady stats: 66.9% completion, 4,990 yards, 40 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 100.5 rating
Rodgers has led his Packers to a 13-3 regular-season record after an ugly opening week loss to the New Orleans Saints. Green Bay will now enter the postseason with home-field advantage in the NFC Playoffs. The team wouldn’t be anywhere near this level with Jordan Love under center. In fact, the Packers’ loss with Love starting in lieu of Rodgers against Kansas City (as referenced by Arkush) should tell us all we need to know here.
It will certainly be interesting to see if other voters take the same stance. Remember, Rodgers was also in the news before the COVID-19 drama when he requested a trade from the Green Bay Packers ahead of the 2021 season. That led to a media blitz of its own.