After being drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 2005, the legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers established himself as a formidable force in the NFL, though there were plenty of leaked stories over the years of the four-time MVP falling out with coaches as well as players on and off the field.
A-Rod found himself embroiled in controversy many times and one of the notable incidents was his heated exchange of words with longtime Chicago sports reporter Hub Arkush surrounding the NFL MVP award in 2022.
Aaron Rodger blasts NFL MVP award voter over his comments
Arkush is one of 50 media members the Associated Press gives a vote to for the MVP award that is regarded by the NFL as its official MVP and awards at the league’s annual NFL Honors event, however, the reporter earlier said he would not vote for the former Packers QB as he is a “bad guy” and a “jerk.”
The four-time MVP didn’t halt back from taking a jab at the MVP voter saying no one knew him till he took the quarterback’s name,
“I think he’s a bum. I think he’s an absolute bum. He doesn’t know me. I don’t know who he is. No one knew who he was, probably, until yesterday’s comments.”
.@AaronRodgers12 opened about the comments reporter @Hub_Arkush made: “I think he’s a bum. I think he’s an absolute bum."
"His problem with me is that I'm not vaccinated."pic.twitter.com/h9XURmZgFE
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 5, 2022
The 39-year-old veteran said he listened to Hub’s comment and seemingly the reporter already made up his mind to refrain from voting for him before seeing his performance on the field,
“I listened to his comments, but to say he had his mind made up in the summertime, in the offseason, that I had zero chance of winning MVP, in my opinion should exclude future votes.”
Aaron didn’t take Covid vaccine as he discovered being allergic to one of the ingredients in the vaccine and he thought the AP voter just had a problem with the fact for not voting in favor of him,
“His problem isn’t with me being a bad guy or the biggest jerk in the league — because he doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know anything about me. I’ve never met him. I’ve never had lunch with him. I’ve never had an interview with him. His problem is I’m not vaccinated.”
The Jets new QB1 spent nearly 1 hour defending himself on his vaccination status on The Pat McAfee show and hence, he decided to not waste time further discussing the vaccination matter,
“If he wants to go on a crusade, and collude, and come up with an extra letter to put on the award just for the season and make it the Most Valuable Vaccinated Player, then he should do that. But, he’s a bum and I’m not gonna waste any time worrying about that stuff … It’s surprising that he would say that. I knew this was possible. I talked about it on (The Pat McAfee Show) weeks ago. But, crazy.”
NFL MVP award voter apologized to Aaron Rodger
The Chicago-based sportswriter later appeared on the airwaves of 670 The Score with an official apology for disclosing his wrong-headed reasoning about the MVP vote,
“I’ve apparently unleashed a small army of self-styled social media and talk radio experts who have no clue what they’re talking about to challenge the quality of the voting process and would attempt to invalidate any vote or thought process that doesn’t agree with their own.”
Arkush admitted doing a huge blunder as one of the rules was not to disclose any preference till the final announcement of MVP came while saying it was a big honor for him to be one of the select few to get to vote for postseason awards in the league and held only himself responsible for the mistake,
“I made a terrible mistake. It was completely my fault. There is no one else to blame, and I am here to try and apologize. I own this and I couldn’t be more sorry.”
The incident is another example of the 10-time Pro Bowl quarterback taking an absolutely bold approach to defending his choices. Rodgers is renowned for wearing his heart on his sleeves and he didn’t even halt back from breaking up with his 18-year beloved team Packers after sensing the franchise’s preference for Jordan Love over him.
Do you agree with Aaron’s words? You can share your thoughts with us in the comments.
