Aaron Rodgers is Playing the Media

The sports world woke up on Tuesday confused, theorizing what Aaron Rodgers' late-night social media post could have meant.

Was it a big goodbye to Green Bay? A goodbye to football? A warning to other men that his former fiancée Shailene Woodley is not on the market, as reports say?

According to Rodgers, his IG post was none of that. Rodgers told Pat McAfee that he had just come out of a 12-day cleanse and was feeling "intense gratitude" for everyone in his life.

Rodgers says he had nothing to add for headline writers who were scoping his post for hidden messages.  "There will be no news today," Rodgers says.

That is incorrect. Rodgers is the news today, again.

Rodgers knew the media would closely dissect his post. Most likely, Rodgers was bored and wanted to give his critics something to obsess over.

He has done this throughout his career, including at post-game pressers. Aaron Rodgers is playing the media and it's fascinating to see.

The press spent the last offseason on Rodgers' future. And that's the plan once again this year. 

Rodgers knows the sports media revolves around his every move, his every word. He likes it. These writers and anchors claim to hate Rodgers but cannot quit him. Rodgers is like Donald Trump in that way.

Tuesday, dopey sports pundits like Stephen A. Smith declared that he didn't care about Rodgers' mysterious tweet, but led his show guessing what Rodgers meant anyway.

Rodgers likely already knows whether he will remain with the Packers, retire or ask for a trade. Though why ruin all of the fun?

Rodgers' harshest critics -- like Skip Bayless, Mina Kimes and Colin Cowherd -- can't stop building segments around the uncertainty. Who can blame them? There's no figure in sports more interesting than Rodgers.

"There's nothing cryptic about gratitude," Rodgers says as the football world spent the morning envisioning him wearing a different jersey this September.

Aaron Rodgers has the press right where he wants it, frantically speculating about his future while he sits back with his signature smirk and a bottle of Scotch.