Pat McAfee and Aaron Rodgers Pat McAfee interviewing Aaron Rodgers in November 2022. (The Pat McAfee Show.)

The Pat McAfee-Aaron Rodgers media affair has changed the way weekly sports radio interviews with current athletes should be perceived.

Typically, an active athlete joins a radio show and attempts to end the interview before saying anything headline-worthy. McAfee and Rodgers, however, are the opposite, struggling to complete an interview without making headlines.

McAfee joined The Dan Patrick Show Thursday morning, and the former NFL punter was asked by arguably the greatest sports radio host ever if Rodgers’ camp ever puts limits on their weekly interviews.

“I’ve never been told anything by Aaron or anybody associated with Aaron,” McAfee told Patrick. “I think that’s why I enjoy it so much and that’s why I try not to ruin it. I’ll mention everything that happens. Literally, 99 percent of our conversations that we have ever had, people have watched.”

If you regularly consume Aaron Rodgers Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show or if you just skim across the various headlines that are written in the hours following the segment, it’s apparent that there are no limits to their conversation. Not only do they touch on a variety of topics, but they usually hit on at least one subject that will stun the audience. This is not your typical, ‘how do you feel about last week’s game and what are the keys to next week’s game?’ type of weekly interview that has bored sports radio listeners for decades.

“I try to address everything with Aaron, there’s just different times in how I present it,” McAfee continued. “I’m just trying to give this dude, who’s a Mount Rushmore quarterback in the history of the NFL and probably the best ball thrower in the history of the NFL, we just try to provide him with an opportunity to explain himself so we can learn a little bit more about him, get his side of it, learn about this anomaly that is him and let him address things as they come up. If we don’t address things, it’s one thousand percent my fault, not on their side of it saying we can’t talk about it.”

McAfee occasionally gets criticized for not addressing certain topics with Rodgers. But McAfee more frequently gets criticized for not doing enough due diligence on a topic before broaching it with Rodgers on the show. This week, for example, McAfee should have read The Athletic’s article on the Green Bay Packers offense before he allowed Rodgers to slam it as “horseshit” and “exaggerated nothingness.”

Putting aside the elephant in the room that is journalistic integrity, if McAfee’s foremost goal is to present Rodgers with a platform that allows listeners to “learn about this anomaly that is him,” then the radio host has achieved the utmost success.

[The Dan Patrick Show]

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