One Man's Idiot Is Another's Joe Rogan

He's a football player, not a role model

Thanks to the insanely talented Clay Bennett

There was a time, and not so very long ago, when I mistook Green Bay Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers for a class act. Then we learned that he lied about his vaccination status (“I’m immunized.” He wasn’t. And, so far as we know, he still isn’t.) and felt justified blaming the reaction on the “woke mob” and “cancel culture.” Unfortunately, it seems Rodgers hasn’t heard of “consequence culture.” That’s when public figures are held accountable for their lies and immaturity.

I don’t expect Aaron Rodgers to split atoms or cure cancer. I wouldn’t expect that of any athlete. He’s an NFL quarterback. He makes an obscene amount of money for something that doesn’t matter in the overall scheme of things- playing a kid’s game.

Rodgers is a great football player; I’ve seen him play in person, and I can vouch for his surpassing talent. As we’ve seen recently, though, he leaves much to be desired as a human being.

All of this raises a legitimate question. Does being a public figure place upon one the responsibility- whether one chooses to accept it or not- of being a role model? Does being an NFL quarterback come with the additional baggage of having to conduct oneself in a manner that causes neither concern nor controversy?

Most of us probably remember the commercial Charles Barkley made for Nike once upon a time: “I AM NOT A ROLE MODEL.” The argument he made was that parents and teachers- those who are in kids’ lives on a daily basis- are and should be role models. The reality is that professional athletes, whose talents may distinguish them from mere mortals, are too often miserably immature, self-absorbed human beings. They’ve been pampered for so long and told they were special that they have no idea how to function as adults.

Did anyone think Henry Ruggs III was a role model…until he slammed his car into the back of another vehicle at 127 MPH, killing a woman and her dog?

I suspect that most professional athletes probably understand their place in society and recognize that some children look up to them. And most probably do their best to conduct themselves in a manner reflective of that reality. Then you have trolls like Aaron Rodgers, who appears to care primarily and only for himself.

That he’s a person devoid of honesty or integrity seems to be of little concern to Rodgers. I don’t expect athletes to be role models because I’m old enough to no longer need or want role models in my life. I don’t think it’s too much to expect that a professional athlete would recognize the importance of honesty and integrity at a time when lives are literally at stake.

As a lifelong Minnesota Vikings fan, I’ve always hated the Green Bay Packers (though I inherited my late father’s share of Packers stock- I know; WTF??). However, I’ve always been able to put my disdain for the Packers aside because their last two quarterbacks- Brett Favre and Rodgers- were among the best of all time at their position. (Ironically, Favre ended his career playing for the Vikings.)

Unfortunately, time and events revealed both Favre and Rodgers to be truly awful excuses for human beings. We shouldn’t be surprised, right? They made millions for their one singular skill- playing quarterback. No one cared what sort of human being they were- until they screwed the pooch, which each did. Then the metaphorical shit hit the proverbial fan.

If you want a role model, look to parents and teachers- the people who we expect to instill positive values in our children. If we leave it to professional athletes and other public figures to raise our children, we’ll end up with…well, with pretty much what we have now. We’ll have a society filled with screaming ninnies who refuse to think critically and decide follow those who’d destroy democracy because they can and because no one’s going to stop them. We’ll have an America filled with truly, deeply awful human beings.

Aaron Rodgers isn’t a role model. He may not even be a very good person, but that shouldn’t matter- because the only thing about him that does matter is what he does on Sunday afternoons.

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