Quarterback highlights typically include completions, yards rushed, or touchdowns scored. But for New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, he made a few — um, shall we say, “questionable calls” — on the sidelines in the Jets’ 37-15 loss against the Steelers, and the former Packers QB went viral for all the wrong reasons.
NFL stars are always in the spotlight, and expectations have been high for Rodgers, a Super Bowl winner and four-time MVP, since missing all of last season with an Achilles tear. So far, the Jets have continued their middling on-field performance, entering the Steelers’ game 2-4 about two weeks after Jets head coach Robert Saleh was fired.
The Jets’ play against the Steelers Sunday was not especially notable, and maybe that’s why Rodgers had some extra time on his hands to get nosy, as comedian W. Kamau Bell and many others noticed on social media.
” … You always know what’s in your own boogers”
Rodgers often makes headlines for his off-the-field opinions, like turning down the COVID vaccine, advocating for Ivermectin use, and suggesting Jimmy Kimmel could be on Epstein’s list. On Sunday, Rodgers got caught picking and possibly eating a booger on the sidelines of the Steelers game, and based on that and some of his previous statements; we can see how deeply he thinks and where he gets his inspiration.
Comedian Kamau Bell shared the clip captioned, “With everything I’ve learned about Aaron Rodgers — most of which was against my will — this tracks.” One of Bell’s comments pointed out the vaccine connection. Check out the following,
Rodgers threw for 276 yards and a touchdown Sunday with one interception, sometimes called a pick — or three picks, as another comment pointed out.
After that clip went viral after Sunday’s game, the embarrassing gaffe and the Jets’ poor gameplay could have Rodgers, 40, considering a career change. Also, Rodgers’ “third pick of the game” wasn’t out of character for the Jets.
And what was in that bottle, anyway?
The pick heard `round the world wasn’t the only Rodgers nose-related news from Sunday. Before the game, he was also seen sniffing at a bottle with a pink substance inside it. It’s unclear what the substance was, but many online speculate it was likely smelling salts, a relatively harmless way many NFL players pep themselves up before they play. That may have also been what irritated Rodgers’ nose. Rodgers has admitted to playing on Percocet for pain management in the past, so playing on smelling salts tracks.
None of this came up in Rodgers’ post-game press conference, however. When asked how the team turns things around, Rodgers said, “Stop listening to you guys, No. 1,” meaning the media, before adding he needed to play better for his team to be successful. He also mentioned the energy seemed “a little flat” before the team took the field, possibly explaining why he turned to smelling salts. Patriots are up next for the Jets, so from blaming the media to preparing for the next game — Rodgers really needs to “pick” his battles to win.
