Controversial MVP voter keeping ballot after Aaron Rodgers comments

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers found his name in headlines earlier this week when Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player voter Hub Arkush controversially announced he's not selecting Rodgers as this season's MVP because he views the signal-caller as "the biggest jerk in the league." 

In a heated response to those comments, Rodgers said that Arkush's stance should "exclude [him from] future votes." 

Rodgers won't be getting his wish. 

"We’re not gonna throw out his ballot," AP national pro football writer Barry Wilner told Jeff Agrest of the Chicago Sun-Times. "For MVP, because the word 'valuable' is judgmental, it would be unfair and unwise for us to set any parameters for that award. We can’t tell people how to think about what they consider most valuable." 

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, PFT is still awaiting a response from "AP management" about voters such as Arkush being potentially disqualified from choosing winners of awards such as MVP based on alleged "personal biases and/or irrelevant factors." 

Perhaps Wilner and others believe it's too late in the season to make any changes, or maybe The AP believes someone being MVP isn't just about his on-the-field performances. 

"A player’s off-the-field conduct certainly can be included in his value to a team," Agrest wrote about Arkush's original comments on Rodgers. "Think of the coaches in the running for Coach of the Year. Their value must include more than what voters see on the field, such as preparing the players during the practice week and what goes on in the locker room. Why shouldn’t a voter take a player’s body of work into account?" 

Expect such debates to continue among media members and fans through and following the playoffs.