After the New York Jets won their final game of the season on Sunday to finish with a record of 7-10, Aaron Rodgers finally has the chance to step out of the spotlight and get himself ready both physically and mentally for his 20th NFL season in the fall. But whether or not Rodgers — who was with the Jets offering his support and counsel for much of the season despite being injured moments into the first game — will be able to seize the opportunity for rest and relaxation is unclear. He’s currently running the risk of being ripped on national TV on a nightly basis after starting a feud with Jimmy Kimmel last week. Rodgers, who didn’t like being mocked by the ABC late-night host over a UFO story he told during the season, made a baseless comment last week on The Pat McAfee Show, hinting that Kimmel’s name would appear on documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
The comment led to some internal friction for McAfee, as ABC and ESPN are both owned by Disney and no one was happy about Kimmel being linked to a deceased pedophile, least of all Kimmel himself. He made that pretty clear with a lengthy monologue on Monday explaining the situation that ended with a call for Rodgers to issue an apology.
During his speech, Kimmel offered a possible explanation about why Rodgers does and says some of the things he does. “It’s called the Dunning-Kruger effect,” Kimmel said. “The Dunning-Kruger is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities. In other words, Aaron Rodgers is too arrogant to know how ignorant he is. They let him host Jeopardy! for two weeks. Now he knows everything.”
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The host recently brought up the conflict on his showThe timing of Kimmel mentioning Dunning-Kruger is interesting, as it came hours after Rodgers spoke to the media at the Jets’ facility. Asked what could be learned from the 2023 campaign, Rodgers said New York needed to limit off-field distractions next season and beyond. “Anything in this building that we’re doing that has nothing to do with winning needs to be assessed,” Rodgers said, via The Athletic. “Everything that we do has to have a purpose…the bullshit that has nothing to do with winning has to get out of the building.”
Rodgers, of course, isn’t wrong, but it’s unclear whether he realizes that “bullshit” — like his feud with Kimmel — has nothing to do with winning and therefore, by his own logic, has no place within the walls of MetLife Stadium. Will he get out? Probably not. Is Rodgers aware that he’s essentially complaining about his own behavior impacting the Jets and winning? Doubt it.
We also doubt that Rodgers will be issuing an apology during his upcoming appearance on McAfee’s show on Tuesday afternoon, but he told the media he’s planning on discussing what’s happening with Kimmel. Depending on what Rodgers says on McAfee’s show, look for Kimmel to issue a response on his program.
“This will go as far as Kimmel wants to take it,” a source told Front Office Sports. “[Kimmel] is the non-cartoon face of Disney…Jimmy Kimmel Live! is five days a week, 52 weeks a year. He prints money for Disney. He’s also a very sensitive guy.”
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