AP Won't Take "Bum" Writer's NFL MVP Vote for Insulting Aaron Rodgers

Despite being called an “absolute bum” by the star quarterback he referred to as “the biggest jerk in the league” and “a bad guy,” a Chicago-area reporter who focuses on the Bears and holds one of the 50 suggestions for The Associated Press’ Most Valuable Player award won’t have his vote pulled by the AP.

Hub Arkush, who apologized for remarks he made on 670 The Score in Chicago while explaining why Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wouldn’t be getting the nod for MVP from him, will hold onto his vote despite some public outcry for it to be revoked because his opinion seemed to be influenced on a personal bias that had nothing to do with on-field value. (As we all know, personal bias never plays into votes for awards or other honors …)

“We’re not gonna throw out his ballot,” Barry Wilner of the AP told the Chicago Sun-Times. “For MVP, because the word ‘valuable’ is judgmental, it would be unfair and unwise for us to set any parameters for that award. We can’t tell people how to think about what they consider most valuable.”

That stance won’t be popular with Rodgers or his fans, but it is probably the best one for The AP to take if it wants its voters to cast their ballots how they best see fit, without fear or backlash or criteria enforced by outsiders. That being said, it would likely have been wise for Arkush to keep his ballot, and the reasons behind it, to himself going forward.

Rodgers likely thinks so.

“I think he’s an absolute bum. He doesn’t know me. His problem is I’m not vaccinated,” Rodgers said of Arkush. “So, if he wants to go on a crusade and collude and come up with an extra letter to put on the award just for this season and make it the Most Valuable Vaccinated Player, then he should do that. But he’s a bum and I’m not going to waste any time worrying about that stuff. He has no idea who I am. He’s never talked to me in his life.”

That probably won’t change as the Bears have already played the Packers twice this season and the NFL’s regular season is about to begin its final weekend. The next time the two teams play, Rodgers could potentially not be under center for Green Bay, although much has yet to be decided in the playoff and offseason. Theoretically, that includes league MVP.