Both sides of the political spectrum in the US have their own opinions on whether athletes should be involved in things beyond the game — with one of the most prominent recent examples being Fox News' Laura Ingraham telling NBA star LeBron James to "Shut up and dribble" in 2018.
But no matter your opinion on athletes in politics, it's difficult to ignore when it could quite literally affect the entire country.
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed on Tuesday that he is considering New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to be his running mate for the 2024 presidential elections, which was first reported by The New York Times. Kennedy intends to run as an independent.
Rodgers, who was sidelined for all but four snaps last season due to an achilles injury, is one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of football, but is also widely known for spewing many conspiracy theories about topics such as alien life and the COVID-19 vaccine. He does not dismiss the claims and has admitted that he indulges in conspiracy theories.
Given that one of the biggest stars in all of sports is reportedly being considered as a candidate for the second highest position in the US government, most of the sports media world gave their reactions.
ESPN "First Take" host Stephen A. Smith, who has said publicly that he is an independent supporter, spoke on his podcast on Wednesday, Mar. 13. He didn't express support or displeasure about the Rodgers report, but said people shouldn't be quick to bash him.
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"No matter what you think about Aaron Rodgers feels or some of the things that he has to say, number one, don't act like the man is stupid and ignorant. He's not," Smith said. "Number two ... we're in no position as a society to say a damn thing to Aaron Rodgers or anybody else. None of that 'shut up and play football.'"
However, most of sports media did not give Rodgers the same leeway that Smith has given him.
The NFL Network's crew of Andrew Siciliano, Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo, and Tom Pelissero were laughing and shaking their heads to the news.
"The good news — election's on a Tuesday, that's normally a player's day off so he'd be available to watch the results role in," Pelissero said.
Then Siciliano made a dig at Rodgers' medical conspiracy theories.
"As long as he's not surgeon general," Siciliano said.
The NFL Network crew had a field day with the Aaron Rodger V.P. news...
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 12, 2024
"As long as he's not Surgeon General..." - @AndrewSiciliano pic.twitter.com/JXWAx5gNUb
ESPN's Mina Kimes, who had done a profile on Rodgers in the past and was recently critical of him after his spat with Jimmy Kimmel, tweeted out her frustrations after a CNN report stated that Rodgers had talked about conspiracy theories involving the Sandy Hook school shooting.
She wrote that many of the reactions to the story were simply that people are not surprised about the news, but called it "galling."
"For too many stupid and harmful conspiracy theories out there these days, but Sandy Hook trutherism is uniquely insidious," Kimes wrote.
Seeing reactions to this along the lines of "who's surprised," but man...this is really galling. Far too many stupid and harmful conspiracy theories out there these days, but Sandy Hook trutherism is uniquely insidious. https://t.co/lb5IFu9R6U
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) March 13, 2024
Smith's ESPN colleague Mike Greenberg, who is a notable Jets fan, spoke on "Get Up!" on Wednesday and gave a tone similar to the NFL Network crew, but from the perspective of Jets fandom.
"At some point, you just have to laugh," Greenberg said.
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He spoke about the Jets going all-in on Rodgers last offseason — which he said was not a wrong move — but for that to crumble because of his injury.
"They built everything around this guy. Four plays, down he goes. Okay, we're going to have to wait another year. Another year will go by and then what? He's running for vice president! Are you kidding me?" Greenberg said.
On other side of the political fence, notable conservative voice Clay Travis tweeted that the idea of Rodgers running while maintaining his football career would be "incredible to see."
Aaron Rodgers per @nytimes is at the top of RFK, Jr’s vice presidential list. Could he run while playing football for the Jets? Would this be an equal time TV violation? This would be incredible to see.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 12, 2024
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