LeBatard Show
Real recognizes real. ESPN’s Mina Kimes is someone who, despite being an absolute workhorse, has been chronically online for years and spends as much time on X (formerly Twitter) as anyone.
So when Mina Kimes was asked about her thoughts on the public transformation of Aaron Rodgers over the past several years she chose her words carefully but was able to talk about Rodgers’ shift from a place of experience, from her countless hours dealing with chronically online individuals and being one herself. Here’s Mina Kimes’ response to Dan’s question:
In the clip that was also shared on Awful Announcing, Mina Kimes says “I think what’s been revealed to me is… a couple things. One, people do change.”
Mina went on to say “especially, I think, we’ve seen people who are on the internet you know a lot… I mean, I don’t want to speculate about Rodgers. But when he talks, and you hear him talk, the things he talks about he’s obviously someone who is very online in a way that I think is very unique to our time right now.”
LeBatard asked her if she was surprised by the person she met. Mina Kimes clarifies that Aaron is someone she “spent less than 24 hours with.” She added “You do these magazine stories, and you try to get to know someone, but ultimately, you don’t really know them. That’s something that’s been proven time and time again in guys that I’ve profiled, not just Rodgers.”
For what it’s worth, ‘very online’ can manifest it in an array of ways. Being ‘extremely online’ can be used to describe someone who might win their local bar’s trivia night every week because they know every single thing there is to know about the latest news cycle. Or it can be someone who thinks birds aren’t real.
I’d classify myself as ‘very online’ but not in the way that Mina Kimes seems to be describing how Aaron Rodgers is ‘very online’ and I think she says a lot in that clip without saying it.