Mike Francesa blasts Packers' Aaron Rodgers as 'weirdo'
Add sports radio legend Mike Francesa to the list of people who sound tired of hearing about Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers this winter.
"I think the way he has handled it has been utterly ridiculous," Francesa said on his latest BetRivers podcast about Rodgers, according to James Kratch of Elite Sports NY. "It’s made him look foolish. Say nothing until you’re ready to say something. This whole idea that you’re spending days in the darkness and all this other stuff makes him look like a weirdo. That’s what it does. It makes him look like someone you don’t want to do business with, despite the fact he is an all-time great at the position."
Specifically, Francesa was mentioning the four-day "darkness retreat" Rodgers supposedly used to help him determine if he wants to play for Green Bay or any team in 2023. Per Rob Demovsky of ESPN, Rodgers said during the "Aubrey Marcus Podcast" this week that he'll reveal a decision about his career "sooner rather than later."
Francesa became a sports media icon largely due to his work on New York radio station WFAN and addressed the Rodgers situation because it seems that the New York Jets have the four-time NFL Most Valuable Player atop their wish list above others such as free agent Derek Carr. However, Jets head coach Robert Saleh spoke highly of Carr on Thursday, and Rodgers may be running out of options outside of New York and Wisconsin.
Vic Tafur of The Athletic reported on Wednesday that the Las Vegas Raiders "won’t be in on the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes" because they "just have too many holes on their roster to trade high draft picks for a 39-year-old quarterback." Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers reportedly haven't contacted the Packers about the future Hall of Famer:
"He comes off as a guy who you think is just out there in the ozone," Francesa added about Rodgers. "And nobody wants to give a guy who is out in the ozone $50 million a year to play. But we all know he is a proven commodity at the position."
NBC Sports' Peter King wrote last month that "a few league or team people" told him before Super Bowl LVII that Rodgers "might be more trouble than he’s worth" at this stage of his career and life. Francesa's take is entertaining on the surface, but it also may be one shared by NFL executives who now view Rodgers as Green Bay's problem more so than a solution for anyone else.
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