As the New York Jets continue to leak like a sieve, Aaron Rodgers wonders if NFL insiders like Adam Schefter are in the business of making trades for information.
It seems like there’s a new embarrassing story about the Jets almost on a weekly basis. During an atypical Monday afternoon appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers addressed the Jets obvious leak problem, claiming it’s one of the reasons they’re not winning.
“You gotta fix the content of some of the stuff that’s coming out, but the fact that it does come out as well,” Rodgers told McAfee. “It can’t be the norm that there’s so many leaks and so many people continue to have conversations, whether it’s getting some sort of angle of revenge or even with people who are still in the building…What’s best for the Jets is not having these types of leaks all the time. When that gets figured out, it will be a little easier to win.”
McAfee reiterated something he told Ian Rapoport on NFL Network’s NFL GameDay over the weekend, wishing sports journalism would eliminate the use of anonymous sources. It might not be a realistic wish, but to McAfee’s point, anonymous sources can lead to more biased reporting. Rodgers, however, was still curious about the motivation behind anonymously leaking information to a reporter and whether NFL insiders feel pressured to return the favor.
“Do these guys feel like when people feed them information, that they have to quid pro quo back to them some sort of thing? Because that would be an interesting decision there…how do you justify being objective in that situation?” Rodgers asked, wondering if players trade information for Pro Bowl or All-Pro votes.
“I would just be interested, for a guy like Schefty, what does he feel like the outside pull is when you have so many sources?” Rodgers continued. “And obviously he does. And so does Rapoport. They have so many people that talk to them. But do you feel constrained to help these people out? I’m genuinely interested, not judging. I’m genuinely curious.”
Schefter must have been listening, because McAfee said ESPN’s lead NFL insider texted the show saying he’s “happy to debate his job any time.” This should have been the time, but unfortunately, Schefter didn’t join the show.
Schefter hasn’t admitted to “quid pro quo” reports, but he does try to keep his sources happy by spending thousands of dollars a year on Christmas gifts, namely, fancy chocolate. In the case of the Jets, however, the source of the leak probably isn’t someone looking for an All-Pro vote or a piece of chocolate. It would seem more likely that at least some of this damning information about the franchise is being offered up by a former employee who may have been unceremoniously fired.
