Aaron Rodgers often complained about the way the media covers him. Well, good luck with that if you decide to run for Vice President of the United States.
According to a New York Times report on Tuesday, independent Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has “recently approached the N.F.L. quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura about serving as his running mate on an independent presidential ticket, and both have welcomed the overtures, two people familiar with the discussions said.”
There are certainly a lot of thoughts that come to mind. We’ll try to refrain from making too many easy jokes and say that the most logical question worth asking is how a guy who is expected to play quarterback for the New York Jets come September expects to take part in a Presidential election campaign that lasts through the beginning of November.
Rodgers, of course, loves to string people along with unrealistic goals that were never possible, so this might just be his latest attempt to keep all the attention on him while also complaining about all the attention. So the odds are good there isn’t much to this. Still, it makes for some great reactions from those in the sports media world.
Take, for instance, the way the NFL Network crew responded to the news.
Andrew Siciliano, Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo, and Tom Pelissero were covering the “Free Agency Frenzy” on Tuesday as NFL free agency kicked into high gear. In the midst of this, the news that Rodgers might be running for political office during his offseason broke. Then, so did they.
The NFL Network crew had a field day with the Aaron Rodger V.P. news…
"As long as he's not Surgeon General…" – @AndrewSiciliano pic.twitter.com/JXWAx5gNUb
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 12, 2024
Pelissero mentioned that he had just read the story, which led to Garofalo holding his head in shame while Rapoport cracked up.
“The good news, the election is on a Tuesday, that’s normally players’ day off,” said Pelissero. “So he’d be available to watch the results roll in.”
He then relayed a story about how all his “idiot friends” in high school were excited about Jesse “The Body” Ventura running for Governor of Minnesota, which ended up happening.
“He won, so don’t laugh!” added Pelissero. “Don’t laugh at the idea of Aaron Rodgers as Vice President.”
Siciliano put the perfect punctuation on the proceedings, saying “As long as he’s not Surgeon General.” Everyone lost it on that one.
These are weird times in U.S. politics. The idea of Aaron Rodgers having any say in how our government works is a scary one, but then again, you could probably say that about a few other people who will be running for office this November.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.