Aaron Rodgers received quite the dressing down this week after confirming that he won't be back to play for the New York Jets this season. After suffering an Achilles injury during the very first game with his new team, the 40-year-old quarterback had dangled hope that he might bounce back before the end of the season. But with the 5–9 Jets now eliminated from playoff contention, Rodgers is officially out.
The news clearly did not sit well with sports commentator Nick Wright, co-host of FS1's First Things First. During Wednesday's show, Wright took Rodgers to task for being "disingenuous" about his alleged comeback, in addition to a laundry list of grievances such as the future Hall of Famer misleading the public about his vaccination status in 2021.
"Aaron thinks that he’s the relative on Thanksgiving that nobody wants to, you know, get caught in a corner with because this guy tells you the hard truths," Wright started off his rant about Rodgers. "When reality it’s because you’ve told me to read [the controversial self-help book] 48 Laws of Power and about the Illuminati every Thanksgiving for a decade and I’m tired of it."
"Aaron Rodgers is the most disingenuous athlete of my lifetime."
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) December 27, 2023
— @getnickwright breaks down Rodgers' decisions this season in 135 seconds: pic.twitter.com/0oaXmGYNdI
"Let me be fair, I’m going to do exactly what Aaron said, because Aaron said before you comment on him, you should have to disclose your vaccination status. So, double-vaxxed, Pfizer, not boosted," Wright continued. "Now, does that impact my opinion on Aaron Rodgers? No. You know why?"
Wright then pointed to other NFL players such as Kirk Cousins and Lamar Jackson, who he doesn't believed are vaccinated. "Best I can tell Lamar Jackson won’t even take DayQuil, my guy gets sick every year and he’s going to win the MVP," he quipped.
"The commentary is not about your vaccination status, it’s about you being the most disingenuous athlete of my lifetime," Wright declared.
"You were disingenuous about the vaccine. That was annoying. Not that status, the way you did it," he recalled. "You were disingenuous about your retirement status, 90 percent retired. You were disingenuous about coming out of the dark room. I’m going to play for the Packers, that was my only goal."
"You were disingenuous about how well Verizon works in southern California. You were then disingenuous about whether or not you wanted Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard, and Tim Boyle on your team or if Joe Douglas is just quite simply the worst talent evaluator in NFL history," Wright went on. "You were disingenuous about why Nat Hackett is now the offensive coordinator."
"You’re now disingenuous about your own comeback, which you were disingenuous about the entire time," he added.
"So this is not about anyone’s private medical decisions," Wright concluded. "It’s about the biggest 'Look at me Louie' saying to his best bud, McAfee, 'Why is everyone looking at me?' It’s so irritating, I mean that’s what it is. My God. And everyone knows it. I think A.J. Hawk knows it. I think A.J. Hawk is watching this like, ‘This guy has lost his mind.'"
Rodgers has yet to respond to the accusations, but perhaps he'll discuss them on an upcoming episode of The Pat McAfee Show, which as Wright noted, he makes regular appearances.
