ESPN’s very own Michael Wilbon blasted the network for its “breathless waiting on Aaron Rodgers” to decide whether to play or retire.
“He’s irrelevant,” Wilbon said on ESPN’s First Take on Tuesday. “He’s overstated, and by the way, I’m not talking about his career, no. Aaron Rodgers is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, a great quarterback for years. He’s irrelevant now. What makes him relevant now? This network, talking about him every day, day in, day out, as if they’re hanging on and waiting for Patrick Mahomes three years ago.
“He’s irrelevant at this point. He’s not LeBron James. He’s not Tom Brady. He’s not playing that way into his 40s. This whole thing is overstated.”
The Pardon the Interruption co-host also took aim at the Pittsburgh Steelers for leaving themselves no other real options at quarterback.
“What recourse do you have?” Stephen A. Smith asked, citing the Steelers’ other options at quarterback, Will Howard, Mason Rudolph, and Drew Aller.
“Did somebody kick them out of the draft? Did somebody kick them out of free agency? What do you mean they had no recourse?” Wilbon replied. “They had recourse since all for the last four months. Go out and get a quarterback.”
Michael Wilbon takes aim at ESPN for their coverage of Aaron Rodgers
“I knew when I saw breaking news, what breaking news? The only breaking news about Aaron Rodgers now is that he’s retired. That’s the breaking news,” Wilbon continued. “They’re a third-place team in their own division, unlikely to be able to pass Cincinnati or Baltimore this year. We’re talking about now, we’re not talking about what Aaron Rodgers has been.
“So all this breathless waiting on Aaron Rodgers, we’re gonna chronicle it every day. I’m blaming this network, because every time I turn on all of our shows, except one, I hear about Aaron damn Rodgers. It makes it sound like I’m criticizing Aaron Rodgers, I’m not. I’m criticizing us. I’m criticizing ‘breaking news!’ I’m criticizing every day we’ve got to talk about Aaron Rodgers, no we don’t! He’s irrelevant, period.”