Colin Cowherd blames ‘Mr. Vaccine’ Aaron Rodgers for Jets being on ‘Hard Knocks’: ‘Downside to being Mr. Personality’

The New York Jets were officially selected as the next team to be featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks and Colin Cowherd thinks they have Aaron Rodgers to thank for that.

Rodgers and the Jets seem like a perfect fit for Hard Knocks, aside from the fact that they have no interest in being on Hard Knocks. But according to Cowherd, that’s the problem with having a polarizing superstar quarterback.

“When you become Mr. Polarizing and noisy in the offseason, this is what HBO wants: juice and heaters.”@ColinCowherd on the Jets being featured on ‘Hard Knocks’ pic.twitter.com/rRaiRvX9uD

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 12, 2023

“Aaron sort of likes to control narratives, won’t be able to here,” Cowherd said after it was announced the Jets would be on Hard Knocks. “The downside to being a quarterback with an opinion on vaccines and opinions on media and wanting his own voice being viewed as a polarizing and building his brand, that’s why the Jets got it.”

“That’s the downside to being Mr. Personality, Mr. Vaccine. I don’t disagree with everything Aaron Rodgers has said about politics or vaccines,” Cowherd made sure to note. “But when you become Mr. Polarizing, you’re noisy in the offseason, you want to tell us where you go in the offseason, you condescendingly, snarkily sort of take jabs at lots of people, this is what HBO wants.”

I doubt Rodgers is sitting at home regretting all of the polarizing interviews he’s given now that he’s going to have extra cameras following him around at training camp. Yes, the NFL tabbed the Jets for Hard Knocks because of Rodgers, but also because they were eligible to be forced into doing the show. The Jets don’t meet the criteria for any of the offered opt-outs which include having a first-year head coach in place, reaching a playoff berth in the past two seasons, and/or appearing on the show in the past decade.

Still, the Jets wouldn’t be getting forced into Hard Knocks if Zach Wilson was still their starting quarterback, it’s Rodgers who generates the intrigue.

“HBO for years has had Hard Knocks, Netflix now has a new docuseries, Quarterback. So as Netflix announces theirs, HBO wants to up them,” Cowherd claimed. “And you know what they’re looking for in this series on Hard Knocks, they want to be more interesting than Netflix. They’re looking for juice and gossip and rumors and inflammation.”

Hard Knocks producers probably aren’t anticipating too much gossip surrounding Rodgers talking to his teammates about vaccines and politics in the cafeteria at training camp. But they’re certainly intrigued by Rodgers’ willingness to be brash and his inherent desire to be thought of as interesting.

There’s concern that a Hard Knocks appearance could spell disaster for Rodgers and the Jets. Mike Francesa called it “a terrible turn of events,” and Cowherd snarkily noted the last 14 teams on Hard Knocks combined for just one playoff win, which seems like a sort of fear-mongering.

For all his polarity, Rodgers is calculated and he’s media savvy, he’ll be able to handle Hard Knocks just like he’ll be able to handle the New York media. If the Jets are going to meet their expectations of a Super Bowl run, an appearance on Hard Knocks in July and August won’t top their list of looming hurdles.

[The Herd]