Where is the Aaron Rodgers “circus” which was promised to Steelers fans?
If you’ve been paying attention to the Pittsburgh Steelers news cycle since the new league year began in March, you know all the headlines. You don’t even have to be a fan of the team to know about all the talking points from the moment Aaron Rodgers was released by the New York Jets until he officially signed a contract with the team just before Mandatory Minicamp.
You know the narratives which circulated every website, news station, and radio station who covers the NFL.
“Rodgers holding the Steelers hostage.”
“Aaron Rodgers will demand a huge contract wherever he lands.”
“Rodgers is an egotistical maniac which will divide the locker room.”
“Just get ready for the Rodgers circus to come to town.”
At this point, you know the narratives which existed, and still exist to this day. However, with Rodgers officially under contract, and in front of media, most recently his usual Tuesday spot on the Pat McAfee show, he has proven all those narratives are fiction, not fact. As the dust continues to settle on Rodgers now being a part of the Steelers, it felt natural to debunk some of those narratives one-by-one:
“Rodgers holding the Steelers hostage.”
As our source told us during the offseason, and as Rodgers said on the McAfee show, the two parties kept in contact throughout the entire ordeal. Rodgers spoke to Mike Tomlin weekly, and was always open with his intentions and plans on potentially joining the team. There was never a hostage situation. Instead, there was constant open lines of communication.
“Aaron Rodgers will demand a huge contract wherever he lands.”
I have to be honest, this was one of my concerns when the rumors of Rodgers to the Steelers began. But it was yet another rumor which was debunked when Rodgers said on McAfee he’d play for $10 million dollars, and his one-year deal with a base contract of just that. Sure, there are incentives for up to nearly $20 million, but it is still a bargain of a deal for the Steelers at this juncture.
“Rodgers is an egotistical maniac which will divide the locker room.”
If I’m being honest, every quarterback in the NFL has an immense ego. You don’t get to be one of 32 of the best quarterbacks on the planet without having that edge. With that edge comes an ego…it comes with the position. However, Rodgers has been nothing but supportive of his teammates, and his teammates talk about him as if they are surprised. As if they were expecting a prickly, aging quarterback who doesn’t want anything to do with their teammates, but instead got the complete opposite.
The story of Rodgers and his dealing with rookie quarterback Will Howard has to be one of the best stories since his signing. It was Rodgers who told Howard that he doesn’t want to “overstep his bounds” with what he is offering to the young quarterback. Always there for the quarterback, but not going to force feed him information if he doesn’t want it. Not just a sign of the quality teammate, but a player who is willing to help a first year player as they enter their second decade in the NFL.
“Just get ready for the Rodgers circus to come to town.”
Everyone said when Rodgers signs with a team, they should expect the circus. Expect the clowns, carnival rides, and more as Rodgers brings all that baggage with him to town.
The spots on Pat McAfee were labeled as a giant distraction. As if Steelers fans don’t remember Ben Roethlisberger’s weekly spot with Ron Cook on 93.7 The Fan.
As someone who has listened to Aaron Rodgers on multiple platforms, many being non-sports platforms, he is a genuinely honest person. Sometimes people don’t like honesty within the media, but Rodgers is steadfast in his beliefs. Believe it or not, he isn’t abnormal in this regard, but Rodgers certainly isn’t the one creating the circus.
I’m not about to suggest Rodgers is purely innocent when it comes to what is said about him, but when you think about all these narratives you can certainly see many are manufactured from media who might just not like Rodgers the man, or his beliefs. Either way, the “circus” which was promised if Rodgers signed hasn’t pulled up to town yet. Obviously things can change, but as of now, the promises have all been empty with Rodgers’ perceived drama he’d bring to the organization.
I talk about this in further detail on the Wednesday “Let’s Ride” podcast, which can be heard in the player below:
To be honest, I am now at a point where I trust major sports media about as much as I trust major general news media…which is not much at all. And polls are showing I am far, far from alone in that. Personal opinion- often on non-sports related issues- seems to affect perspectives of that which should be concrete, between the lines. Coach Boone in “Remember the Titans” said that the football field was ‘the great equalizer.’ It seems most sports media’s intent is to work against this principle as much as they possibly can and “tip” the perception or even who should or should not be signed to a team toward their currently favored players (based on non-football related issues). It seems even the most talented can be subject to attempted ‘cancelation’ for a point of view, a comment, a hat, or a personal belief. It’s an obvious obsession with power.
Even when considering Russell Wilson last year, we were told a great deal about what a horrible person he was and how washed up he was. Even though it didn’t work out and some conflict obviously did eventually arrise, it wasn’t nearly as catastrophic as predicted. Truth is, he was not hated by his teammates, he did lead them to several strong victories, and the late season collapse was not all on him. He did not handle the ridiculous injury that should never have occurred with bitterness or unprofessionalism. He waited and bided well until Tomlin made his decision on who to start and handled it well, saying the right things in the lead up when no one knew what might be decided. Yes, something took place between he and Arthur Smith, but we don’t know precisely what. The leak about play calling is likely suspect- but on the other hand- we still all don’t really have an explanation for Wilson’s incredible performance against the Bengals followed immediately by disaster from then on. It’s possible the statement was put out, quite simply, because it was true- and we can’t know otherwise nor from whom it really came. What we do know is he never bashed Denver while here and he hasn’t said anything bad about Pittsburgh since leaving that I have heard. Either way and in sum total, I believe the stories both pre and post Wilson were just trashy falsehoods and slander.
Thus far, it seems the same about Rodgers. For me, personally, I long for football to be the ‘escape’ it once was, when politics and personal belief/ media pundits’ personal likes and dislikes were intentionally left aside to allow the actions on the field to be both the substance and the attraction exclusively.
Wouldn’t that be refreshing?
Thanks for the well thought out response! You write well. Ever think about contributing to SCN?
Why does “circus” have to have to a strictly negative connotation, though? You don’t think that Rodgers’ journey through free agency didn’t have a lot of “circus elements”? I am not saying he’s a bad guy who causes problems. I am saying that he’s a different guy who presents non-traditional attributes to his team. To me, that is a circus.
To me, I ask who caused the “circus”?
Was it Rodgers, or was it those who covered the situation?
Plus, I love carnivals, they aren’t always bad! lol
Yeah, I alluded to that in my other post. My point is that it doesn’t matter who caused the circus. It exists no matter what the root cause is.
The Jets are an organization where NFL careers are derailed if not ended for both coaches and players. The owner is not good and has made the habit of stacking one bad decision on another every season.
Rodgers was known as a great teammate in Green bay. I have yet to see a teammate from there bad mouth him. His coaches from there all praise him as a player, mentor and person. There was just one incident with the Jets where he through Mike Williams under the bus for running a wrong pattern. Guess what? Williams made a habit out of running bad patterns in Pittsburgh. the Jets have a way of corrupting players that go there so that was why I never put much stock in reports coming from the Jets and New York media.
I’ve been saying all along that Rodgers is a great guy…and we’d be lucky to have him. Too many people either bought into the media negativity, or were turned off by his spiritual choices. I’m excited to see what unfolds this year!
Yeah, so far so good, but we’re still in the honeymoon stage.
Yes, that’s true. I’m interested in how AARod plays in stadium, when the rubber meets the road, so-to-speak.
I think we have to define “circus” when declaring that one isn’t here. To me, merely the way Aaron Rodgers landed in Pittsburgh was a circus. Has any free agent in Pittsburgh sports’ history ever had so much hoopla prior to signing with a team? I can’t recall one. To me, that was a circus. Was it all of Rodgers’ doing? Nope, but who cares? A circus is a circus no matter who set the tents up and put the monkey’s in it.
I wouldn’t conflate causing a circus with things going bad, either. To me, a circus is when something significantly out of the ordinary occurs. It might not be bad, it’s just something that distracts from football things to non-football.
I may be the minority here, but we just witnessed phase 1 of the Aaron Rodgers circus given the bizarre way he became a Steeler. I fully expect that we’ll see several other phases as the season plays out.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Exactly.
Those spots on the McAfee Show are the biggest reason I was not as down on Rodgers as many. As you pointed out, he’s genuine and honest. Does he have a bit of an ego about football? Of course he does. I’m not sure there’s an NFL starting QB who doesn’t – you more or less have to have that kind of belief in yourself to succeed as an NFL QB.