Will Aaron Rodgers follow own advice about off-field distractions?

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers spoke with reporters on Tuesday about a handful of subjects, including whether he will follow his own advice regarding off-the-field distractions impacting the team during the upcoming season. 

Rodgers spoke in January about the importance of flushing "the bull---- that has nothing to do with winning" out of the Jets' organization. He proceeded to share conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines and other subjects during an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show." As noted by Sean Keeley of Awful Announcing, Rodgers recently touched upon what some would deem to be controversial topics during an interview with political media personality Tucker Carlson, seemingly not following his own advice.

"I appreciate anybody’s opinion," Rodgers said about routinely generating headlines for comments he makes during interviews and podcast episodes, as shared by Andy Vasquez of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "That’s the beauty in the First Amendment in this country and free speech. Whether it’s positive to me, whether it’s negative. I joke about people talking about their (vaccination) status before they make comments about me. I do that because there’s definitely people that view me under that lens. So the comments about me are usually framed in that mindset. It’s not like a sensitive comment or a victimization comment, it’s just the actual truth. I respect those opinions."

It was learned ahead of organized team activities that independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reached out to Rodgers about possibly being Kennedy's vice presidential running mate. Rodgers confirmed on Tuesday he chose to play for the Jets over running as a VP candidate, but some nevertheless have accused the 40-year-old of being a hypocrite considering what he said about the club this past winter. 

"Those are offseason things," Rodgers said about his activities since early January. "Those are real opportunities. Mostly podcast with friends of mine and the Bobby [Kennedy] thing…how it got out there, I don’t know, but it wasn’t from me. Once the season starts, it’s all about football." 

Rodgers seems to understand that Jets owner Woody Johnson could clean house if the team fails to end the longest active playoff drought among the four major North American sports leagues. With that said, only time will tell if Rodgers will remain "all about football" during the Jets' summer break that will get underway next month.