Aaron Rodgers will no longer appear on “The Pat McAfee Show” this NFL season, McAfee said Wednesday. The New York Jets quarterback, a weekly guest on the show during the NFL season, has come under scrutiny over the past week regarding comments he made about late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
Rodgers suggested last week that Kimmel’s name would appear in documents linking him to convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. As a result, Kimmel threatened to file a lawsuit, and ESPN has since called Rodgers’ words “stupid and factually inaccurate.” On Tuesday, Rodgers disputed the idea that he accused Kimmel of being a pedophile.
McAfee said on Wednesday that he “would like” to move forward with the situation.
“Aaron Rodgers is a Hall of Famer. He’s a four-time MVP. He’s a big part of the NFL story whenever you go back and tell it. He’s going to be a big part of it,” McAfee said. “We’re very fortunate to have the opportunity to chat with him and learn from him.” . Some of his ideas and opinions anger a lot of people. I’m thrilled that this no longer happens every Wednesday of my life, as it has been the past few weeks.
“On Friday, I obviously threw us into the fire as well. I forever stand by that. However, everything else can’t do that and is not what we want to be known for.”
Why did McAfee and ESPN make this decision?
As McAfee himself noted, the host will be happy when things calm down.
“The way it ended, it went pretty high, pretty high,” McAfee said of Rodgers’ last two appearances. “I’m glad I won’t be mentioned in the future, which is great news.”
It’s been a very tumultuous couple of weeks for ESPN and McAfee, including his very public comments to longtime ESPN executive Norby Williamson. The good news here for all parties is that the 24/7 content machine will soon move on to another story. If Rodgers returns for a fifth season of the series, it’s clear the news cycle will start up again. But for now I expect McAfee to slowly dial up from the center of the sports content universe. -Richard Deitch, media reporter
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(Photo: Vincent Carchietta/USA Today)