Colin Cowherd discusses Aaron Rodgers vs the New York media

With Aaron Rodgers officially set to join the New York Jets, Colin Cowherd expects him to get along just fine with the city’s left-leaning media.

In the weeks and months since it became apparent that the Jets were going to acquire Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers, many in the national media forecasted some sort of clash of the titans between the polarizing quarterback and New York’s fourth estate. Cowherd, however, doesn’t think Rodgers should be concerned about the narrative of the big bad New York media.


“I hope Aaron stays for two years because I think it’s going to be a little turbulent in year one,” Cowherd claimed on his Tuesday Fox Sports Radio show. But he doesn’t think it will be turbulent with the media. “I do not believe the New York media, which leans left – the media leans left, I lean left – and it always has. Just be honest about this stuff. Fox News is an outlier, most media is moderate to left, and ‘they’re gonna attack him for the vaccine stuff.’ No they’re not and here’s why: cause he’s going to win games.”

The vaccine story has seemingly been retired at this point. It’s hard to imagine Rodgers stepping to the podium for his introductory press conference and getting asked about his vaccination status. But Cowherd’s larger point is a good one. The New York sports media will care much less about Rodgers’ quirkiness and much more about how many wins he gets.

“You’re gonna go from Zach Wilson and Mike White to Aaron Rodgers,” Cowherd added. “Every day is going to be a parade. Every day is going to be a win. There’s going to be so many fascinating stories.”

New York’s sports media battles with players who are severely underachieving, attack the fanbase, refuse to talk, or attempt to avoid any attention. But Aaron Rodgers has been in the spotlight since he was tabbed to succeed Brett Favre. And despite his isolated retreats, the polarizing quarterback does not seek to avoid attention, he craves it.

Rodgers is great for a quote, or an interesting headline. And as long as he’s performing on the field, New York’s media will relish that.

Rodgers’ relationship with the media has been interesting in recent years. He lied to reporters about his vaccination status in 2021. He lashes out at national headlines that feature his name, encourages people not to trust anyone who claims to have a scoop on him, and entered a strange one-sided battle with NFL insiders Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport this offseason.

But as far as the local beat is concerned, Rodgers seems to have less issues with that branch of media. And that’s not because Green Bay/Milwaukee media treated Rodgers with kid gloves. It’s because Rodgers probably just prefers dealing with those who cover him daily, like New York’s media will.

[The Herd]

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com