1. There was so much media fallout from Aaron Rodgers’s Wednesday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show in which he confirmed what had been reported for days: Once the Jets and Packers agree on compensation, Rodgers will be traded from Green Bay to New York.
Rodgers did his usual thing where he said he wasn’t a victim in this saga while acting like a victim; expressed his dismay with how Green Bay has handled everything while saying he has no problems with how Green Bay handled everything; and, of course, went after the media.
The top play from Rodgers’s playbook is to rip the media and discredit the media, so we all knew this was coming.
Now, it’s always dicey to generalize “the media,” so I give Rodgers credit for actually naming names. One person Rodgers has gone after a couple of times is ESPN’s Adam Schefter. On Wednesday, Rodgers revealed that Schefter had texted him to get information and Rodgers told the reporter to “lose my number.”
So here you have Rodgers claiming reporters don’t have real sources and make up information about him, and then when a reporter went directly to Rodgers to get information, Rodgers tells him to lose his number. Got it.
Rodgers likes to claim that Schefter doesn’t know anything about the future Hall of Fame quarterback and that Schefter has no sources inside Rodgers’s camp. There’s only one problem with this stance: Schefter was pretty much right about everything he reported about Rodgers, the Jets and the Packers.
Schefter first reported that Rodgers would get traded by Green Bay all the way back on Jan. 21.
On March 3, Schefter said the following on SportsCenter:
"My sense is there continues to be more and more signs about him leaving Green Bay. And I think in the end, my sense is ultimately it will come down to whether he wants to play elsewhere, which would be really the New York Jets, or whether he wants to retire. To me, those are the two most logical options and the two most likely scenarios here. But again, we have not heard from Aaron Rodgers himself.”
Rodgers himself admitted on the McAfee Show that he was “90% retired” before he locked himself in a dark house for four days. Then he got out of the house and decided he wanted to play for the Jets.
So Schefter reporting that Rodgers would retire or play for the Jets was 100% accurate.
Rodgers has also taken shots at the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Guess what? Rapoport turned out to be correct with his reporting on the four-time MVP.
From last Tuesday:
From last Thursday:
The only thing Schefter and Rapoport got wrong in this entire saga is the day when Rodgers was scheduled to go in his darkness retreat. BFD. All their reporting on his playing future, which is what fans care about the most, was dead on. And you can be sure Rodgers hates that the most.
2. Rodgers also took the opportunity to knock ESPN’s Dianna Russini during his interview with McAfee.
McAfee brought up Rodgers’ “demands” for the Jets.
“I didn’t even respond to Dianna Russini. I think [that’s what] her name is. From what I’ve seen, it’s like I had a sheet of paper when I met with the Jets and I said, ‘Sign these people.’ That’s not the reality. That’s so ridiculous. It’s so stupid to think I would do that, number one. Now, did they ask me about certain guys that I’ve played with over the years? Of course. Did I talk glowingly about teammates that I love? Yeah.”
"Do I make demands about certain people? I mean, it’s just … people want these things to be so true."
There was only one problem with Rodgers’s diatribe here. Russini never reported that Rodgers was making demands. She reported that he had a wish list of players he'd like the Jets to bring in. Again, this also plays out since the Jets signed Allen Lazard.
3. This was just a completely embarrassing tweet by RGIII.
In addition to being wrong about everything, Griffin is also cheering the fact that Rodgers called out his ESPN colleagues. Classy.
4. Almost as embarrassing as Griffin’s tweet was this one from the official SportsCenter Twitter account, which credited/hat-tipped Schefter for the news that came from Rodgers’s own mouth.
5. Speaking of McAfee, Wednesday was huge for his show. On the heels of the New York Post's Andrew Marchand reporting that McAfee may end his deal with Fan Duel and pursue a different opportunity, McAfee's show on YouTube peaked with 496,285 concurrents during his interview with Rodgers. A total of 1,333,867 people tuned into Wednesday’s show at some point. Just absurdly impressive numbers for a YouTube show.
6. This week's SI Media With Jimmy Traina features an interview with ESPN NBA analyst Richard Jefferson.
Jefferson, who also hosts a podcast and calls Nets games for the YES Network, discusses his rise in sports media, what his ultimate goal is in broadcasting and how important social media is for his career. Jefferson also talks about how he approaches TikTok and accumulating 1.4 million followers, why he hates Twitter, the load management controversy, Ja Morant, his ongoing feud with Knicks fans and much more.
Following Jefferson, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week we discuss filling out NCAA Tournament brackets, the World Baseball Classic, two highlights from the Oscars and the overall movie-going experience in 2023.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch the SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.
