It’s usually not a good thing when a sports media personality makes the news. In talking about Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers, that’s what longtime scribe Hub Arkush did earlier in the week.
The former Pro Football Weekly top dog talked about Rodgers’ MVP chances recently and indicated that he has no plans on voting for “the biggest jerk in the league.” As a previously well-respected member of the media, Arkush has one of the 50 votes for the top individual honor in the league.
His take on Rodgers includes the belief that Green Bay’s star quarterback should not win the award because of how he’s presented himself off the field. That includes the well-known controversy surrounding Rodgers’ COVID-19 vaccination status.
“I don’t think you can be the biggest jerk in the league and punish your team, and your organization and your fan base the way he did and be the Most Valuable Player,” Arkush said. “Has he been the most valuable on the field? Yeah, you could make that argument, but I don’t think he is clearly that much more valuable than Jonathan Taylor or Cooper Kupp or maybe even Tom Brady. So from where I sit, the rest of it is why he’s not gonna be my choice.”
This represents an antiquated stance on media-led voting, something that has been at the forefront of discussions in recent years. Some conclude that making said voting personal takes professionalism out of the process.
Aaron Rodgers response to "bum" Hub Arkish
As has been the case throughout what we can consider a drama-filled year for Rodgers, he was not afraid to hold back when talking to the media on Wednesday.
“I think he’s a bum. I think he’s an absolute bum,” Aaron Rodgers told reporters during his weekly press conference. “He doesn’t know me. I don’t know who he is. No one knew who he was, probably, until yesterday’s comments. And I listened to the comments. But to say he had his mind made up in the summertime, in the offseason that I had zero chance of winning MVP — in my opinion, that should exclude [him from] future votes.”
That’s what we mean by making something personal. There should still be some sense of objectivity when it comes to the media. It’s not too far of a stretch to say that Arkush didn’t display professionalism in his comments from earlier in the week, especially given the fact that he doesn’t know Rodgers personally. The enigmatic quarterback touched on that, too.
“His problem isn’t with me being a ‘bad guy’ or ‘the biggest jerk in the league’ — because he doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know anything about me. I’ve never met him. I’ve never had lunch with him. I’ve never had an interview with him. His problem is I’m not vaccinated. So if he wants to go on a crusade and collude and come up with an extra letter to put on the award just for this season and make it the ‘Most Valuable Vaccinated Player,’ then he should do that.”
That’s the point. We have every right to our opinion regarding the Rodgers vaccination “scandal.” It’s been prominent on many publications, including this one.
The issue here is utilizing said stance when coming to a determination about who is the most valuable player in the NFL. Rodgers has been that for the second consecutive season.
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