Aaron Rodgers will likely be back on the ESPN broadcast every week this coming season thanks to “The Pat McAfee Show.”
During a media day at ESPN’s campus in Bristol, Connecticut, McAfee indicated that Rodgers would return for a fifth season to make a weekly appearance on the popular sports talk showwhich had led to plenty of headlines over the Jets QB’s comments about the program.
“There’s a good chance you’ll probably see Aaron on Tuesdays again,” McAfee said, according to Front Office Sports’ Colin Salaoduring a Q&A that later got a little heated.
Rodgers has used the platform in the past to discuss his views on COVID-19 and other controversial topics.
This past NFL season, he got into a verbal sparring with ABC host Jimmy Kimmel after suggesting the ABC host may be on a list of Jeffrey Epstein associates.
During Wednesday’s press junket, McAfee acknowledged that he has heard the criticism over the segment that he “doesn’t push back,” but argued that Rodgers’ future place on the “Mount Rushmore of NFL quarterbacks” makes the segment worthwhile.
McAfee has defended the segment in the past, pointing to the idea that the footage will one day be used in “every Aaron Rodgers documentary 10 or 15 years from now,” which he did again Wednesday, according to Deadline.
“I don’t know if it’s journalism or not, in your guys’ eyes, but I think it’s really provided something useful for sports fans,” McAfee said.
He also told the assembled group of reporters that there were “a lot of people who were praying that it wouldn’t happen anymore.”
Even so, it appears that Rodgers will continue to have a regular spot in the program.
Rodgers’ regular appearances last season came while he was recovering from the season-ending Achilles injury he suffered during the opener of the Jets’ Week 1 game against the Bills.