Aaron Rodgers isn't backing down.
A week after the Jets quarterback went on a rant on ESPN and said he wasn't the same, former NFL player and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark slammed the signal-caller as a “fraud.” In response, Rogers defended himself at the station.
Rodgers said last week on ESPN's simulcast “The Pat McAfee Show” that today's sports networks aren't the same as they were more than a decade ago, calling much of what's on ESPN “boring.” I called it.
“It's all about talk shows now, where people whose opinions are so valued believe they are now celebrities and are stars just for talking about sports and giving their opinions about sports. But a lot of that is baseless or baseless, as we all know. But that's the environment we're in right now,” Rogers said.
Well, that didn't sit well with Clark, who appeared on ESPN's top opinion show “First Take” on Friday and called Rodgers a “fraud.”
“You have the opportunity to say these stupid things because someone is paying you – the very same people you are accusing,” Clark said. “This man is a fraud. He was a fraud. He acts like he's above everyone.”
Rodgers had his weekly conversation with McAfee, a former NFL punter, on Tuesday and said his critics should at least take a “vaccination stand” but did not mention Clark by name in his monologue. He did not go so far as to name names.
“You can say whatever you want about me,” Rodgers said. “But right before you do that, just state your vaccination status, whether it's your name, your accolades, your pronouns, whatever, so whatever you say after that will be shown in the proper light.” Just put it out there. Because if you say something about me, people will at least say, “Oh, you're trapped by a multi-million dollar propaganda PSYOP and you're still mad about that.'' You might be thinking, “I see.” Put it out there so everyone can see where you're coming from. Everybody knows, “Okay, cool, you've been vaccinated twice with three Moderna boosters,'' and say whatever you want.
“I don't care. I'm just saying a PSA. Please help anyone who is wondering, 'Where did this come from?' Where did this come from, including myself? But please give me a little PSA. ”
Rodgers didn't mention Clark by name, but he appeared to be referring to the former defensive back when he said this later. Please include your VAX status there as well. ”
Clark wore a pin that read “RC” on his jacket when he appeared on “First Take” on Friday.
Last fall, Rodgers said his critics had been vaccinated against COVID-19 and revealed their vaccination status so people could “put all these comments in the right frame.” I repeated what I said I should do.
During an interview with Prime Video's “Thursday Night Football” staff last December, analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick humorously responded to Rodgers' request.
“Hi Aaron, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Class of 2005. How are you doing? I've had my second dose of the vaccine,” the former NFL QB said.
After Rogers appeared on “PMS” on Tuesday, Clark responded on social media.
“Man, I want to @PatMcAfeeShow I would have let him continue! It just got better. I don't know about Vax, but he almost named it. By the way, it's a lapel pin! ! ” Clark wrote about X in response to the brooch comment.
In a later post, Clark added: “I'm not too worried about Aaron.”
