Aaron Rodgers finally responded to Jimmy Kimmel — and he took a move out of Pat McAfee's playbook as well during his tirade.
Rodgers hopped on "The Pat McAfee Show" on ESPN for his usual Tuesday guesting and addressed his feud with the late night talk show host. Rodgers did not apologize to Kimmel, instead clarifying that what he said was not an accusation of pedophilia.
"I'm not stupid enough — even though you think I'm an idiot and you've made a lot of comments about my intelligence — But I'm not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero evidence," Rodgers said.
"I'm not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero concrete evidence."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 9, 2024
Aaron Rodgers gives his side of the controversy with Jimmy Kimmel pic.twitter.com/wSUGyqTLhW
Rodgers has been under fire from Kimmel and the public over the last week after he made comments on his last guesting on McAfee's show that suggested that Kimmel's name would be a part of the list of clients of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel are really hoping that doesn't come out," Rodger said on Jan. 2.
Kimmel responded to Rodgers on social media by threatening potential legal action on the NFL quarterback. And then last night on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" — which has been on ESPN's sister channel ABC for 20 years — Kimmel spent over seven minutes lamenting Rodgers.
"When you hear a guy who won a Super Bowl and did all the State Farm commercials say something like this, a lot of people believe it," Kimmel said sarcastically. "A lot of delusional people honestly believe I am meeting up with Tom Hanks and Oprah at Shakey's once a week to eat pizza and drink the blood of children."
Kimmel continued by criticizing Rodgers educational background and condemning his thoughts of being against the vaccine.
"Aaron Rodgers has a very high opinion of himself," Kimmel said. "Because he had success on the football field, he believes himself to be an extraordinary being. He genuinely thinks that because God gave him the ability to throw a ball, he's smarter than everyone else ... We learned during COVID that somehow he knows more than science than scientists. A guy who went to community college, then got into Cal on a football scholarship, and didn't graduate. Someone who never spent a minute studying the human body is an expert in the field of immunology."
Related: Here's how Aaron Rodgers just drove a $85 million wedge between ESPN and Pat McAfee
Rodgers said on McAfee's show that he's "interested in informed consent" with regard to the vaccine, and took a shot back at Kimmel for his comment on the quarterback's education.
"I think it’s impressive a man who went to Arizona State and has 10 joke writers can read off a prompter," Rodgers said.
But while Rodgers didn't seem apologetic, his message concluded by pushing back against anyone who was accusing Kimmel of pedophilia.
"I'm not calling him one, and neither should you," Rodger said. "So it's not backing me up or making me feel good if you're doing that ... Don't do that in my name. Don't do that at all. Those are serious accusations meant for people who are on the list."
This may not be the end of Rodgers vs. Kimmel, and the quarterback also seemed to stoke the flame between McAfee and ESPN.
McAfee accused ESPN executive Norby Williamson of "attempting to sabotage" his program, which has created a bit of a firestorm between the new ESPN talent and his network. McAfee has made it clear that he has a good relationship with ESPN, but Rodgers also took a dig at another ESPN exec, this time Senior Vice President of Production Mike Foss.
Related: Stephen A. Smith has some real advice for Aaron Rodgers in Jimmy Kimmel dispute
Foss told Front Office Sports that Rodgers' initial comment about Kimmel was "dumb and factually incorrect, and Rodgers responded on McAfee's show.
"Mike, you're not helping," Rodgers said. "You're not helping because I just read earlier exactly what I said. This is this was the game plan of the media. And this is what they do. They try and cancel."
Rodgers also added later on that he "doesn't work for" Foss.
The quarterback's whole conversation with McAfee, including calling out Foss and a mix of a few F-bombs, were all done on ESPN airwaves.
With well over four years left on his deal with ESPN and no sign of Rodgers' weekly appearances coming to an end, it looks like there could be more to come between McAfee and ESPN.
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