Jun 10, 2025; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) drops back to pass during minicamp at their South Side facility. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images
Former NFL Players Association president Demaurice Smith rips Aaron Rodgers as “isolated and dismissive” in his new book. Smith’s upcoming 354-page book, Turf Wars, will be released in August.
What’s telling about Demaurice Smith’s anecdote is that it came from when Aaron Rodgers was still with the Green Bay Packers, which was before the public perception of him bottomed out to its current state.
According to Smith, Rodgers was “isolated and dismissive” during team meetings as he’d sit in the back of the room and “issue loud sighs” before dramatically exiting.
“The god of Cheesehead Nation was isolated and dismissive. He sat in the back row of the meeting room, issuing loud sighs before standing for a dramatic exit. An incredible quarterback, to be sure, but an even more impressive antagonist,” Smith writes in his upcoming book, according to Awful Announcing.
“In August 2021, my phone chirped with a text from Aaron Rodgers. ‘Can you call me?’ it read. Could I not run into traffic instead?”
Smith served as executive director of the National Football League Players Association from 2009 to 2023 and was succeeded by Lloyd Howell Jr.
As for Rodgers, he’s currently embarking on what’s set to be his final season in the NFL as he signed a one-year, $13.65 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers after being kicked to the curb by the New York Jets.