Michael Strahan Says Aaron Rodgers Might Struggle With NYC Media

When it comes to handling the media, Aaron Rodgers likes to call the shots. But according to Michael Strahan, that attitude won't work in New York.

Appearing on The Tonight Show, the New York Giants legend said he's not sure Rodgers and the NYC media will mesh.

"The media here is kind of like guilty until proven innocent," Strahan said. "They don’t like you — you have to make them like you, and I think he comes in already off darkness retreat, so they’re gonna be like, 'You know, this guy.'"

The darkness retreat he's referring to is at Sky Cave in Oregon. That's where Rodgers spent four days in isolation in a dark room in February. He said it helped him with mental clarity.

"I think they’re gonna probably try to give him a little bit of benefit of the doubt, but they’re looking," Strahan said. "So it’s gonna be interesting to see how he handles the media because they can’t be tamed here in New York. They’re tough."

Michael Strahan played 15 seasons for the Giants.

So he certainly knows a thing or two about reporters in the Big Apple.

But he's not the first person to express doubt about Rodgers' ability to handle them.

In February, Strahan's former teammate Tiki Barber ripped Rodgers for being "too sensitive" for the nation's biggest market.

Barber was responding to comments Rodgers had made about NFL Insider Ian Rapoport.

"There’s an inner circle, and in my inner circle, nobody talks to Ian Rapoport, to Adam Schefter or to any of those people," Rodgers said on The Pat McAffee Show. "So if you’re one of those people who’s talking to those people, it’s a great reminder to you: You’re not in the inner circle."

And Barber took issue with those comments.

"Ian’s job is to source information about things that are going on in the NFL world," Barber said. "If he is that sensitive that he gets upset that people, reporters, opinion-makers, influencers — whatever — want to talk about him, he is going to struggle in New York. I don’t know if I want him in New York if this is going to be his reaction to things that don’t matter."

Right now, Rodgers and the Jets are in their honeymoon period.

Saturday night, Rangers fans erupted at the sight of Rodgers on the Madison Square Garden big screen. And the Jets coaching staff is singing his praises.

But when the going gets tough this fall, we'll find out if Strahan was right.