After four years of being a consistent guest on the popular “Pat McAfee Show,” Aaron Rodgers was bounced from his role with the show — for now — after showing little remorse for comments that created a media firestorm last week.
Aaron Rodgers has been a unique element of the surprising rise to prominence of the “Pat McAfee Show.” The Green Bay Packers legend has always been a player who avoids interviews beyond his media obligations, however, the future Hall-of-Famer surprisingly became a weekly part of the podcast hosted by the former Indianapolis Colts punter.
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That along with weekly spots from Alabama head coach Nick Saban, and McAfee’s unique flair helped the YouTube show become one of the most successful sports podcasts in media and landed McAfee a massive $85 million contract from ESPN last year.
However, Rodgers thrust himself and the show into a negative light last week when he randomly suggested late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel would pop up in the recently released documents connecting various celebrities and influencers to deceased and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The comment led to a public rebuke from Kimmel and a backlash from fans of the show.
Aaron Rodgers gets bounced from “Pat McAfee Show,” temporarily
On Tuesday, Rodgers made his weekly appearance — which he reportedly earns over a million dollars from — but he didn’t take the time to quell the drama he started the previous week and instead avoided apologizing for the incident.
Well, that lack of even a little remorse for the unfounded comments has led to some serious ramifications. On Wednesday afternoon, Pat McAfee announced that Rodgers would no longer appear on the show for the rest of the NFL season.
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The Athletic’s media writer Richard Deitsch reported after the news that “McAfee made that call (as I have written he has creative control & control of guest booking). Obviously, I am certain ESPN supports this.”
It is likely Rodgers will return to the show by the summer when NFL Training camps kickoff but the decision is surely a reaction to the public outcry due to his comments last week. Which follows other many odd and unusual public opinions the New York Jets star has made over the years.
