Distractions, character issues, and Aaron Rodgers

No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character. We boast our emancipation from many superstitions; but if we have broken any idols, it is through a transfer of the idolatry. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Character”

When the Washington Commanders traded for offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil from the Houston Texans a few weeks ago, it sparked a flare-up of “remember whens” regarding the infamous video of Tunsil that surfaced on draft night in 2016. In it, the Ole Miss prospect Tunsil was smoking marijuana with a gas mask on. The whole thing is now considered one of the legendary goofy OMGs of any pro sports draft, and Tunsil, who since has five Pro Bowl selections and became the highest-paid left tackle two separate times, has even turned the video into an NFT with some of the profit going to charity.  

But in the moment, that video (which only became public because someone hacked Tunsil’s social media account and posted it there) literally affected the player’s draft position. He dropped from an assumed top-ten pick to thirteenth to the Miami Dolphins. Tunsil’s lower draft position cost him $8 million at the time as teams in the top ten decided that they could not risk a pick on a college kid doing an extremely college kid thing that risked harm to nobody. It followed situations like those of Hall of Famers Randy Moss and Warren Sapp, who both also dropped in their respective drafts because they smoked weed. 

The now-antiquated reefer madness of pro sports fell under the umbrella of “character issues” and its cousin “the locker room distraction.” While there are plenty of serious crimes athletes have been accused of committing either in college or during their pro careers that have led drafting teams or potential free agency destinations to balk, pot never seemed like it should have been a deal-breaker, even before much of the country legalized it. Team personnel would argue that the bigger question was that athlete’s decision-making.

Yet that hasn’t seemed to come up with Aaron Rodgers and his “All About Me–Free Agency Edition” tour. Any NFL offseason news is news in the sports world because it’s the national religion, but Rodgers Watch has been especially farcical this time around since he is football old and not really a commodity anymore while also being way more of a pariah than when he held the Green Bay Packers hostage before being traded to the New York Jets in the spring of 2023. Rodgers did not end up improving the Jets and arguably set the franchise back during his two seasons in New York with the draft capital it cost and doing little to progress young skill position players there.

But since being cut by the Jets in mid-February, his status has been the biggest league storyline. Would it be the Cleveland Browns or Tennessee Titans perhaps? Eh, that would be slumming in on bad teams in non-marquee markets. Oooo, might he again follow Brett Favre’s footsteps and go to the Minnesota Vikings? Oh, the Vikings squashed that. What about the other Big Apple team? Nah, they went and got whatever remains of Russell Wilson instead. So then it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers, right? 

It’s a lot of drooling gossip for a guy known to not hesitate to throw coaches under the bus and ignore their playcalling and who craves attention more than most NFLers despite it being a league that promotes valuing “team-first” mentalities (even if evidence shows it’s very much a league of mercenaries). Off the field, Rodgers is a well-known anti-vaxxer who has never been shy about sharing sociopolitical opinions, particularly during weekly hits on the Pat McAfee Show. He promotes controversial drugs and therapies–stuff that is way beyond weed and a gas mask. 

So is Aaron Rodgers discussed as a potential distraction? Are his calling out media personalities and Jimmy Kimmel (while claiming he doesn’t care what people think about him) or leaving his team to go on vacation to Egypt or publicly considering an immediate higher office while under NFL contract or doing ayahuasca or darkness retreats considered “character issues”? What about being oblivious to his own hypocrisy when the “distraction” label is broached?

None of that seems to be keeping the Steelers from targeting Rodgers, whom they haven’t given a deadline to make a decision despite three weeks of discussions. Seems like some current Steelers would prefer not to have to answer questions about a guy who has never been on their team. Steelers running back Cam Heyward is definitely not about the Rodgers hoopla. He said two weeks ago about potentially recruiting Rodgers, even via going on a retreat with him:

I don't need any of that crap. Either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don't. It's that simple. That's the pitch. If you want me to recruit, that's the recruiting pitch. Pittsburgh Steelers. If you want to be part of it, so be it. If you don't, no skin off my back. . . .

I just want to play football. I'm tired of talking about the quarterback situation. I'd rather have it done. I don't know what ends up happening. I'm ready to move on into free agency. There's too much going on.

Those words strike me as the Rodgers situation being distraction-adjacent, but what do I know?

But Colin Kaepernick, who showed up every day ready to play and has never sought microphones and cameras the way Rodgers does, who was voted the San Francisco 49ers highest team award by his teammates despite the controversy of his social activism, never found work in the league immediately after going to the Super Bowl. He was called a distraction from the likes of Joe Montana to Joe Thomas to LeSean McCoy, while far inferior quarterbacks got opportunities and roster spots around the league.

In the likelihood that he becomes a Pittsburgh Steeler–well past his prime where it’s no longer an issue of a player having enough on-field talent to stomach anything off the field–and then in the likelihood some in-season drama ensues, Aaron Rodgers will again have put the lie to the NFL narrative of character issues and distractions.