Mike Florio defended his criticism of the Jets media, arguing that they missed a golden opportunity to ask Aaron Rodgers a crucial question. Credit: ‘The Dan Patrick Show’

After a kerfuffle with media covering the New York Jets media, Mike Florio is telling his side of the story.

The owner and operator of Pro Football Talk, Florio, gave the Jets’ press corps a D-minus for their efforts in asking Aaron Rodgers the supposed tough questions, saying they blew their chance. From Connor Hughes to Zack Rosenblatt to Rich Cimini, the Jets’ beat responded resoundingly, sarcastically referring to Florio as “the purveyor of journalism” while imploring him to hop off his high horse.

Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show Friday, Florio clarified that he wasn’t trying to stir up drama with the Jets’ media, but felt they chose to attack him personally rather than engage with his actual critique.

“I wasn’t mixing it up with them; they chose to mix it up with me rather than address it on the merits with ad hominem attacks and other things,” he said. “And I don’t care about that anymore; I’m too old. I’m at the — I call it the N.F.G. (No F’s given) phase of my career, where it’s not worth it; life’s too short to get into these stupid fights.

“Dan, I’ve learned a lot from working with you and listening to you and watching you over the years, you’re one of the best interviewers ever. You know how to ask questions in a way that doesn’t piss people off but gets to the heart of the matter. And I was just disappointed yesterday by the press conference of Aaron Rodgers. All that had to be asked of Aaron Rodgers was one very simple question, seven words, ‘Did Robert Saleh deserve to be fired?’

“The answer to that would’ve been incredibly revealing because so much time has been spent this week with Rodgers kind of puffing his chest out, ‘I resent any suggestion that I caused this.’ OK, fine, but you could’ve stopped it; you could’ve prevented it. And I think that’s what we need to drill down on. Did you have a chance to prevent it, and if you didn’t, man, that’s a hell of a story, too.

“So, that’s what bothered me. It was a golden opportunity to ask him questions, not belligerent, not rifled with animosity. Just simple questions that you do that get right to the heart of the matter. And they whiffed — they just whiffed. And if they’re mad about it, show some of that to Aaron Rodgers. Don’t direct it to me; re-direct it to Aaron Rodgers the next time you can ask him questions.”

While we’ll still have to wait and see if Florio takes the reporters up on their offer to join them at the next Jets’ presser, he did offer up a response (not so much of an olive branch at that) in his signature style.

[The Dan Patrick Show]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.