Dan Patrick would push back on Aaron Rodgers more than Pat McAfee does

Pat McAfee is not a journalist, he’s an entertainer, but Dan Patrick would still prefer to see him push back on Aaron Rodgers, at least a little bit.

Patrick joined the latest episode of Jimmy Traina’s Sports Illustrated Media Podcast and during their conversation, the former ESPN stalwart was asked about the recent shock and outrage over McAfee paying Aaron Rodgers to be a weekly guest on his show.

“There are a lot of local radio shows that do this,” Patrick said. “A lot of big-time radio shows who pay people money to show up. Are you a journalist or not? And Pat’s not a journalist, he’s an entertainer. I do think that journalism is really with small letters now. I don’t think there’s a lot of people who aspire to be journalists anymore. Bob Ley may be the last true journalist in this business, or Jeremy Schaap.

“I don’t know if people think that you can make a great living by being a journalist. You gotta be an entertainer. You gotta get clicks. So it’s exploded. Whatever Pat’s approach is to entertainment and you want to pay somebody to come on, fine. I’m not tuning in for journalism with Pat. I’m tuning in for entertainment. And if he wants to have Aaron Rodgers on and Aaron Rodgers wants to say whatever he wants to say, that’s Pat’s show and Pat’s audience, and ESPN has to answer for that.”

Surely, ESPN has heard the criticism of Rodgers’ appearances with McAfee, although they haven’t really answered for it. ESPN might not like everything Rodgers says on McAfee’s show, but so far, they’ve leaned on it being Pat’s show and Pat’s audience. ESPN has continued to give McAfee the freedom they promised him when he signed his $85 million contract there earlier this year.

That freedom allows McAfee to welcome Rodgers to his show and ESPN, where the polarizing quarterback continues to mock COVID vaccines, as he has for years, without pushback. And while Patrick insists he has no interest in programming McAfee’s show or his interview with Rodgers, the longtime radio host admits he would do it differently.

“Would I like to see him push back? Yeah,” Patrick told Traina. “If Aaron was on my show, would there be pushback? Yeah. But I was brought up in a different era. I’m 30 years older than Pat McAfee. I came in at CNN doing things where the product was most important, and you had to be a journalist and approach it that way. Pat didn’t. He was a punter. And all of a sudden he’s got a show and he’s making millions of dollars and he’s got Nick Saban and Aaron Rodgers and he’s gonna have them on and he’ll compensate them. Fine. I don’t care.”

While Patrick and others might prefer to see McAfee push back, it’s hard to expect the retired punter to change after he sort of stumbled into this situation. When Rodgers started making weekly appearances with McAfee in 2019, there was no need for pushback. Rodgers said things that were weird, but hardly dangerous or harmful.

Even though Rodgers has now morphed into Mr. Anti-COVID Vaccine, McAfee would much rather continue to laugh along with Rodgers than press him on a tough question. It’s one thing if Rodgers were speaking freely on his own podcast or platform, but every week, he is handed one of the biggest sports platforms in the world to say whatever he wants without retribution. At some point, ESPN will realize McAfee isn’t the quarterback’s only accomplice, they’re one too.

[Sports Illustrated Media Podcast]