Well, that didn’t take long.
One day after telling his viewers that conspiracy-peddling NFL star Aaron Rodgers’ paid weekly appearances were “done” for the rest of the NFL season, sports shock jock Pat McAfee welcomed Rodgers back to his eponymous program on Thursday.
According to the ESPN host, however, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. After making his big announcement on Wednesday that “Aaron Rodgers Tuesdays” had come to an end for the rest of the NFL season, McAfee took to social media to explain that this was actually par for the course when it comes to Rodgers’ regular segments.
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“Our fans know that ART ends shortly after Aaron’s team’s season ends.. that’s how it’s been,” McAfee tweeted. “He’ll make random surprise welcomed pop ins during big events or offseason adventures but, it’s always been a season thing. I never said he’ll never be on the show again. I hope he chooses to still chat with us.”
During Thursday’s broadcast of The Pat McAfee Show, the ex-NFL punter brought on Rodgers to talk about six-time Super Bowl champ Bill Belichick stepping down as coach of the New England Patriots. Rodgers’ short interview, which only lasted about five minutes, was largely centered on the New York Jets quarterback’s on-field interaction with Belichick after the Jets beat the Patriots in the NFL regular season finale.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the last human Bill Belichick talked to on the field as the New England Patriots head coach, Aaron Rodgers,” McAfee introduced the four-time NFL MVP as the rest of the hosts applauded. “How are you doing, pal?”
Rodgers, who was calling in from “out here in the woods,” went on to talk about his admiration for Belichick, steering clear of the conspiratorial topics that pulled McAfee’s show under the cloud of controversy.
After wrapping up his chat with Rodgers, co-host AJ Hawk snarked that Rodgers “wasn’t allowed on the show” while McAfee joked that they “must’ve called the wrong person.” Other hosts quipped that the call was the product of a “deep fake” or “clone.”
McAfee then clarified that “this is what the offseason looks like for Aaron,” asserting that the QB’s regular appearances are over merely because the NFL regular season has ended and the Jets are not in the playoffs.
“So yesterday, I’m just getting absolutely crushed,” McAfee said. “I’m like, how do I explain to all these humans that Aaron Rodgers has an offseason too that he enjoys doing? This is how this is always kind of gone with ‘Aaron Rodgers Tuesday.’”
He continued: “That was wild. We were getting absolutely killed. ‘You turned your back on Aaron Rodgers!’ Do you know how many things I've been through with Aaron Rodgers in our short relationship? I was not pumped to be in the middle of any of that. We all have friends that put us in situations that it is like, Did we have to? I’ve been that guy!”
While Rodgers’ frequent peddling of medical misinformation had cast a pall on his guest appearances for a while, it was the quarterback’s suggestion that ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was associated with deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein that threw the show into chaos in recent weeks.
With Kimmel threatening legal action against Rodgers, McAfee quickly apologized for his involvement on his show. ESPN executive Mike Foss also issued an apology, calling the quarterback’s comments a “dumb and factually inaccurate joke.” While McAfee is not an ESPN employee, the sports giant is paying him a reported $85 million to license his show and broadcast it daily. ABC and ESPN are both owned by Disney.
Eventually addressing the matter during his regular Tuesday segment, Rodgers refused to apologize for his remarks, insisting that he wasn’t insinuating that Kimmell was the “p-word” or on the so-called Epstein List. He also lashed out at Foss, saying the ESPN boss was “not helping” with his apology while diving into an unhinged 30-minute rant about vaccinations and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The following day, McAfee said he was “happy” to announce the end of Rodgers’ regular appearances for the season, acknowledging the scrutiny and backlash it has brought to his program.
“We’ve given a lot of people who have been waiting for us to fail a lot of ammo and things to attack us for over the last week,” he said, adding: “I’m pumped that that is no longer going to be every single Wednesday of my life, which it has been for the last few weeks.”
While McAfee is now asserting that Rodgers’ weekly spots only came to an end because the quarterback is now enjoying his “offseason,” CNN’s Oliver Darcy reports that “the decision to end Rodgers’ regular Tuesday appearances was due to his recent behavior, not the conclusion of the regular NFL season.”
