Sports Corner: Aaron Rodger’s three days in politics

Two hundred sixteen career points. 475 passing touchdowns. Four NFL MVP awards. A three-day political career. These are the stats of the disgraced New York Jets quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.

Sports fans will be disappointed: this is less of a Sports Corner and more of a Political Corner.

On March 12, Independent presidential candidate and buffet-style conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr. confirmed that Rodgers was among his top choices for a presidential running mate.

Three exhilarating days later, a video was posted on X (formerly Twitter) of Kennedy saying he’d chosen his running mate, declaring that “it’s not any of the people they’ve been talking about” –– effectively ending Rodgers’ “political career.”

In many ways, Rodgers’ terrifying yet anticlimactic time as a potential vice presidential candidate mirrored his 2023 football season –– his first with the Jets after 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers.

Let’s set the scene: Rodgers steps out onto a new field, wearing a new jersey for the first time in his highly successful career. The game begins, with Jets fans on the edges of their seats watching their new quarterback, who was traded for a first-round pick and some change, for the low price of $75 million. Four snaps and 94 seconds into the game Rodgers ruptured his Achilles tendon in a sack by the Buffalo Bills’ Leonard Floyd.

Back to March 12: Kennedy announces Rodgers is on his short list for a running mate. March 13: Rodgers informed a CNN reporter of his belief that the Sandy Hook shooting was a “government inside job.” March 14: Rodgers posted on X, saying “ what happened in Sandy Hook was an absolute tragedy.” March 15: Rodgers was officially out of the running to be the Independent ticket VP.

If we can learn anything from Rodgers’ close call with Capitol Hill, it’s that “too crazy” exists even for even the craziest of people. Who knew that a weekly slot on The Pat McAfee Show, injection with a homeopathic COVID-19 vaccine alternative and a slew of 9/11 “trutherisms” wouldn’t win him widespread public approval?

Rodgers will supposedly return to the NFL to play for a couple more years, likely with the Jets, given his Achilles is reportedly healing well. With that cleared up, on March 26, Kennedy also officially announced that his vice presidential running-mate would be attorney and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan.

For now, all we can do is hope and pray that Rodgers’ move to the Jets represents his first step into oblivion.