Stugotz Spent 20 Minutes Thinking He Was Talking to Aaron Rodgers. He Wasn’t.

1. Over the years, there have been a few incidents of sports hosts interviewing someone who wasn’t who they thought they were interviewing. 

For example, this reporter thought he was talking to Patrick Mahomes when he was actually speaking with Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero.

However, Stugotz, from The Dan Le Batard Show, took things to a whole new level earlier this week when he thought he had a 20-minute conversation with Aaron Rodgers at a golf event in Lake Tahoe.

Unbeknownst to Stugotz, though, he spent 20 minutes chatting with country music singer Jake Owen.

Full disclosure: I’ve never heard of Jake Owen and wouldn’t have known what he looked like before I had to pull a photo for this story, so I don’t want to mock Stugotz too much.

But I can say that Stugotz’s story recalling his gaffe is hilarious.

Stugotz is a huge Jets fan and continuously refers to Rodgers as “my quarterback,” yet he had no clue that Rodgers was not the man he was in deep conversation with.

“Listen, I will never have the relationship with Aaron Rodgers that I have with the guy that I thought was Aaron Rodgers,” Stugotz told his cohosts, Mike Ryan and Jeremy Taché.

“I’ve been thinking about this and I’ve been going through the details of the conversations. The many different ways I must have creeped out Jake Owen, it’s kept me up most of the night. I’m a little tired. 

"I was hugging him. I was patting him on the stomach. You’re my quarterback. You’re my quarterback. And Jake Owen, going, ‘I am, I am.’

“I am embarrassed. I told you, I stayed up most of the night. I kept going through parts of the conversation and I’m like, How did Jake just stay with it and not laugh at me?”

"Stugotz didn't talk to Aaron Rodgers. Stugotz thought country music superstar Jake Owen was Aaron Rodgers. They had a 20 minute conversation." – @MichaelRyanRuiz

"Identical twins, I mean Jesus." – @Stugotz790

📺 https://t.co/wOL2QAD2nZ pic.twitter.com/aBBpMIZ8xf

— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) July 12, 2023

Hopefully, this saga ends with the real Aaron Rodgers doing an interview with Stugotz.

2. A brand-new SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped Thursday morning, and this week’s episode features a conversation with New York Post sports media reporter Andrew Marchand. Topics covered include:

• Did the NBA play a role in ESPN’s axing Jeff Van Gundy? 

• What will ESPN do for its top NBA booth? 

• How is Derek Jeter doing on TV? 

• What’s going on with ESPN Radio? 

• Tom Brady–Fox update 

• Threads

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

3. Fox drew 7,091,000 viewers for Tuesday’s MLB All-Start Game. It is the lowest-rated MLB All-Star Game of all time. However, for anything on network TV in this day and age to generate 7 million viewers is a win.

Rockies catcher Elias Diaz delivers clutch late-inning home run to elevate NL, earn #AllStarGame MVP honors ⚾️@MLBonFOX @FOXSports pic.twitter.com/Is94G72u5I

— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) July 12, 2023

4. I’ve watched three episodes so far of Netflix’s Quarterback, and it's outstanding. The best part of the show is getting an inside look at the NFL's best player, Patrick Mahomes. This clip of the quarterback going toe-to-toe with Raiders defensive lineman Maxx Crosby is so good.

Maxx Crosby made the mistake of waking up Patrick Mahomes pic.twitter.com/fIPKi2HzGR

— Chase Snyder (@ChasingSnyder) July 12, 2023

5. Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels showed up to Big 12 media day Wednesday wearing a necklace that featured a screen playing his highlights, and I have a feeling he’s about to start a trend because that’s some solid marketing.

Drip level: elite 💧@JalonDaniels6 is wearing his highlights today pic.twitter.com/cygQnnzIwc

— Kansas Football (@KU_Football) July 12, 2023

6. Dick Vitale shared an unfortunate update Wednesday on his latest health battle. Vitale has been through hell the past few years, yet maintains an upbeat and positive attitude and is an inspiration for how he’s handled things. Let’s hope he gets through this latest battle in speedy fashion.

This is an update on my meeting today with Dr ZEITELS. Though I was disappointed with the pathology report, I plan on winning this battle like I did vs Melanoma & Lymphoma ! pic.twitter.com/pu61XJSm43

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) July 12, 2023

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Not only is this clip very amusing, but it’s also narrated by the great Charlie Jones, who called NFL action for NBC back in the 1970s and ’80s.

BOTD Don Floyd
A young Lady runs out on the field during an AFL game, she tried to get the 🏈, but settled for giving Don Floyd of the #Oilers a big hug and 💋. pic.twitter.com/Fkz7rhyv1k

— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) July 10, 2023