There’s so much fake news being peddled nowadays you’re forced to look at everything with a skeptical critical thinking eye. Athletes complain about the sports media all the time when they speculate about any upcoming decision they’re about to make when they claim they have “insider” knowledge of the situation.
For instance, this is the case with Kevin Durant where many sports media personalities like Bill Simmons swears that he will become a New York Knick this offseason. And when you can’t reveal your sources; then skepticism is necessary.
However, a new credible story from Bleacher Report suggests that Aaron Rodgers probably isn’t the kind of guy you think he is.
It’s no secret that some athletes are a toxic infestation in locker rooms. In the NBA, Dwight Howard has carried around that title for nearly a decade and it began when he joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012.
In the NFL, newly acquired Oakland Raider Antonio Brown is beginning to look toxic especially after he criticized his former Steelers teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster for dropping balls in the biggest game.
But then there are “coach killers” like LeBron James who has gotten Mike Brown and David Blatt fired – and it looks like Luke Walton won’t be carrying the clipboard for next season.
Now a new story from Tyler Dunne at Bleacher Report suggests that Aaron Rodgers is to blame for head coach Mike McCarthy’s firing late last year and it’s largely to do with how the Packers quarterback views himself.
Dunne noted in the opening of his piece, “Anyone could see the Packers quarterback and head coach were headed for divorce well before that inconceivable 20-17 loss to the lowly Cardinals in December, the one that finally got McCarthy fired. Death stares and defiance from Rodgers had been constant for years by then.”
Dunne likes to backtrack when they’re relationship starts to go south and he tracks certain moments all the way back to 2006 when he was drafted.
He wrote, “The worst-kept secret at 1265 Lombardi Avenue was that Rodgers seemed to loathe his coach from the moment McCarthy was hired. Nobody holds a grudge in any sport like Rodgers. When it comes to Rodgers, grudges do not merrily float away. They stick. They grow. They refuel. No, Rodgers would not forget that McCarthy had helped perpetuate his four-and-a-half-hour wait in the NFL draft green room the year prior. His nationally televised embarrassment. McCarthy, then the 49ers offensive coordinator, chose Alex Smith No. 1 overall. Not Rodgers.”
And there it is. Dunne is insinuating that Rodgers has a fragile ego and carried this grudge around for years, but somehow they managed to work together for 12 years until McCarthy was finally fired.
Former teammate Ryan Grant told Dunne, “Aaron’s always had a chip on his shoulder with Mike. The guy who ended up becoming your coach passed on you when he had a chance. Aaron was upset that Mike passed on him—that Mike actually verbally said that Alex Smith was a better quarterback.”
One anonymous source told Dunne, “Mike has a low football IQ, and that used to always bother Aaron. He’d say Mike has one of the lowest IQs, if not the lowest IQ, of any coach he’s ever had.”
To be fair, McCarthy never adapted to the likes of the new hot scheming coaches like Sean McVay or Phil Nagy. His offense went stale because he failed to keep up with the times. And that’s clearly not Rodgers’ fault. They traded away his favorite target, Jordy Nelson, without consulting with him. That seemed to be the tip of the iceberg.
But instead of confronting him about it, Rodgers was passive aggressive instead. He let it fester for 12 years before he finally got what he wanted.
Someone who thinks they’re the smartest person in the room can be toxic to a locker room in and of itself. Like LeBron James, it seems as though the Packers will allow Rodgers to go down the road of being a player-coach. They wouldn’t have given him the biggest contract in NFL history if they thought any differently.