New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers reappeared on 'the Pat McAfee Show' hours after the titular host said his weekly segment would no longer be featured.
Rodgers made a sporadic video call into the show to discuss the New England Patriots' decision to move on from head coach Bill Belichick on Thursday (January 11), four days after he and Belichick shared a moment after what ultimately served as the six-time Super Bowl champion's final game with the Patriots, as well as the retirement of University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban one day prior.
“He seems like a lifer. It’s tough. You have Bill, but Nick announcing his retirement, that’s two iconic coaches. We play this game, we love this game, there’s this idea of game-changers," Rodgers said. “In actuality there’s really very few people who move the game forward — players or coaches… Bill Belichick and Nick Saban were those guys. Bill did things his own way and had a ton of success with it. People tried to copy it and couldn’t do it. I think that’s the greatest compliment you could give Bill besides the respect of competing against him. One of my favorite things about Bill is his love for the game.”
McAfee announced that Rodgers' weekly 'Aaron Rodgers Tuesday' segment would no longer be featured during Wednesday's (January 10) episode of his titular show.
“So ‘Aaron Rodgers Tuesday,’ season four, is done,” McAfee said. “There could be a lot of people that are happy with that. Myself included, to be honest with you. The way it ended, it got real loud. I'm happy that that is not going to be my mentions going forward which is great news."
A source with knowledge of the situation told CNN that the conclusion of the 'Aaron Rodgers Tuesday' segment was due to the quarterback's recent behavior on the show, not the conclusion of the 2023 NFL regular season, however McAfee claimed the opposite. The four-time NFL MVP had previously appeared on McAfee's show as late as March during each of the past two years, but sporadically after the conclusion of the regular season.
Last week, Rodgers mentioned ABC late night talk host Jimmy Kimmel while discussing then-upcoming unsealed court documents identifying late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's associates, which many took as a baseless accusation against Kimmel.
“That’s supposed to be coming out soon,” Rodgers said. “There are a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, that are really hoping that doesn’t come out.”
“I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I will definitely be popping some sort of bottle,” Rodgers added.
Kimmel, who had previously joked about the quarterback on numerous occasions, responded with a lengthy repost on his X account and addressed Rodgers in his first monologue since the incident. Rodgers then returned to 'the Pat McAfee Show' on Tuesday (January 9) and refused to apologize, instead claiming his words were misinterpreted.
"I'm not calling him one. No one should, and don't do it in my name. That's not cool. I'm not about that," Rodgers said. "And I have no love for anybody doing any of that (expletive)."
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