Aaron Rodgers Discusses Trade Possibility, Rips Woke Culture, Talks NFL Future On Pat McAfee Show

The Aaron Rodgers hour on the Pat McAfee Show has become appointment listening for anyone wanting to know what the Green Bay Packers quarterback is really thinking the past couple of years. Tuesday was no different.

Rodgers addressed the rumors of him getting traded, him continuing to play or retiring, and amazingly, came out guns blazing on woke media and others about how he's portrayed on multiple levels since he came out against COVID-19 injections the last two years.

On the guess by NBC's Peter King that the Jets would happily trade two-first-round picks for Rodgers (no, they wouldn't), Rodgers answered that speculation like a professional. And then got some serious stuff off his chest.

"Usually, you would think they would wait until maybe the off week before the championship week and Super Bowl to drum up storylines because there's two great games this Sunday and obviously four really deserving teams will be playing," Rodgers told McAfee.

"I have some people that love to track that stuff so I've been made aware of it. But listen, there's heroes and villains in sports and entertainment. And I think because of my stance on COVID and maybe some other things I've been cast as a villain, especially the last few years.

"And so that is the way a lot of things I said are often interpreted. I'm not upset by that, I don't feel like a victim in any way. I don't have that mentality. That's fine. I actually embrace that role a little bit, if that's how you want to cast me."

Aaron Rodgers Responds To Gronk, Media

Rodgers cited an example where last week he told McAfee he could win MVP again if he came back under the right circumstances. And former tight end Rob Gronkowski blasted him for it, saying he should be talking about winning Super Bowls rather than MVP.

"I did see there were some comments that I'm only playing for MVPs and stuff like that," Rodgers said. "Didn't maybe quite see the entire clips of the stuff that I said. I don't care about that stuff. That doesn't offend me.

"This culture, this woke culture wants to be offended by everything. You just go online and find something you don't agree with. 'I'm offended! How could you possibly say that?' I don't really care. I don't care who it's coming from or who said it. They're entitled to have an opinion.

"It might not be right. I don't think you have to get on the air and say, hey, you know, 'This is not true, let's just tone it back a little bit.' Most of the time you just gloss over it. Who cares? It doesn't really matter.

"Because it honestly doesn't matter. It doesn't affect my day-to-day ...I don't agonize about, 'Oh, you know, Gronk said I'm worried about MVP.' I know Gronk. I love Gronk. He's a fun energy to be around. But what do they do? If you take the right sound byte from the right thing, and it's a station that may or may not in the past been brought to you by Pfizer, then they're going to make sure their villain gets cast in the correct light."

Hey now ...

"And whether or not they're sponsored by Pfizer or Moderna or Johnson and Johnson, whatever it might be, when you go up against some of those powers that be, you put yourself in the crosshairs," Rodgers said. "They're going to paint you in a certain way.

"And that's what the media did to me a couple of years ago. That's fine. That's their prerogative if that's what they want to do. But I think I responded pretty good in those times. I'm glad I went through that. And anything that comes after that, small potatoes, bro."

Rodgers Discusses Possibility Of Trade

So Rodgers got that off his chest. And then he addressed the crux of the matters.

On his MVP comments: "Everybody wants to win MVP. Everybody that plays the game wants to win MVP," he said. "Like, yeah, you want to win a championship. One hundred percent. You want to go down in history on a championship football team. But everyone wants to win MVP, too. Any sport.

"You want to be recognized the best of the best. Anybody that says they don't, is lying or non-competitive and either one of those I don't want to be a part of."

On the making a decision about his future: "If there was a timetable where I was told I got make up my mind in two weeks, then I would have came to a decision," he said. "It would have been much more difficult for sure ... I don't think you can wake up on January 24th and say, 'Alright, I'm ready to go run this thing back.'

"Even when you're in the midst of a career, in the middle of a career, there always moments you're like, 'Man, I just need a couple of more months.' Not to say if you want to play or not but before that mindset kicks in that, 'Oh, man I'm really going to go do this again ...' You need time to decompress, at least I do."

And, finally, on the idea he could be traded: "The other ideas about trade and whatnot, that's all conjecture until I decide what I want to do going forward for myself."

But Rodgers is apparently not completely dismissing the possibility, if he decides to continue.

"You never know," he said. "I mean, anytime there's a situation where change is possible what's the old adage that people want to say? 'The grass isn't always greener on the other side.' And I always say the grass is green where you water it.

"Change is a part of this business, it's a part of life. And I think being open to it and embracing whatever that change looks like is an important part of coming to peace with whatever decision lies ahead of you. And that's the most important kind of peace I want to get to.

"If it means hanging it up and do that, having the peace to do that. And if I want to keep going, understanding all possibilities that are involved."

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