With Aaron Rodgers reportedly closing in on joining the Jets, it’s clear that many in the national sports media have a false pretense about the New York media.
Wednesday morning on FS1’s Undisputed, Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless discussed the prospect of Rodgers joining the Jets. During the conversation, Sharpe scoffed at the notion of Rodgers having to handle postgame press conferences under the big bad lights of New York.
“The New York media isn’t tough, it’s just completely unfair.” pic.twitter.com/uK29F4075O
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 8, 2023
“I just want to see the game where he doesn’t play well and that New York media starts asking the questions cause you’re not in Green Bay anymore,” Sharpe said. “And they don’t lob softball questions. They’re gonna be relentless with it.”
Are we assuming the Green Bay media was incapable of asking Rodgers a tough question after a bad game? This idea that the New York media just spits fire at the city’s athletes is false. Sometimes, the bigger the press room, the harder it is for the tough questions to cut through.
“Let’s not belittle or disrespect the Milwaukee/Green Bay media,” Bayless commendably chimed in. “Because I think they’re pretty tough.”
“Listen – the New York media isn’t tough, it’s just completely unfair,” Bayless added. “They will rip and they will slash.”
Unfair, like deciding to cement your corner as the world’s foremost LeBron James hater and leaning into that narrative no matter how many feats the NBA star accomplishes?
There seems to be this idea that Rodgers is going to have a hard time dealing with the New York media because he likes to push back at the media. WFAN radio host and former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber pushed the same narrative last month.
But the personalities who enjoy battling the media are not the people who struggle in New York. It’s the personalities who seek to avoid attention which often struggles in New York.
Rodgers has been under the spotlight since he was drafted by the Packers to be Brett Favre’s successor. And recently, his every move has been dissected by the public with a fine-tooth comb. Last week, his bowel movements literally made headlines.
Rodgers may be a polarizing conspiracy theorist who always believes he’s the smartest person in the room. But that’s not something he attempts to hide. Rodgers already put that on the table for the world to see and his opinions are now covered the same regardless of whether he’s living in Wisconsin or New York.
In the last few years, there have been a lot of adjectives used to describe Aaron Rodgers. Recluse is not one of them. Despite his various retreats to remote areas, Rodgers loves attention. And because of that, the New York media will love him.
