Getty Quarterback Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers warms up prior to the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field on January 02, 2022 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The conversation about Aaron Rodgers’ candidacy for the 2021 NFL MVP took an interesting turn earlier this week when one of the 50 selected voters — longtime Chicago Bears insider Hub Arkush — went public with his intentions to not vote for the Green Bay Packers quarterback due to his issues with Rodgers’ character.
“I don’t think you can be the biggest jerk in the league and punish your team and your organization and your fanbase the way he did and be the Most Valuable Player,” Arkush told 670 The Score on January 4. “Has he been the most valuable on the field? Yeah, you could make that argument, but I don’t think he is clearly that much more valuable than Jonathan Taylor or Cooper Kupp or maybe even Tom Brady. So from where I sit, the rest of it is why he’s not going to be my choice.”
Now, though, Rodgers has gotten the chance to respond to Arkush’s recent comments and didn’t mince words when talking about the man who accused him of being “a bad guy” and of “torturing” the Packers fanbase during the 2021 offseason.
Here’s the full quote from Rodgers:
I think he’s a bum. I think he’s an absolute bum. He doesn’t know me. I don’t know who he is. No one knew who he was probably until yesterday’s comments. And I listened to the comments, but to say he had his mind made up in the summertime, in the offseason that I have zero chance of winning MVP, in my opinion, should exclude future votes. His problem isn’t with me being a bad guy or the biggest jerk in the league because he doesn’t know me, he doesn’t know anything about me. I’ve never met him, I”ve never had lunch with him, I’ve never had an interview with him. His problem is I’m not vaccinated, so if he wants to go on a crusade and collude and come up with an extra letter to put on the award just for the season, then make it the most valuable vaccinated player, then he should do that. But he’s a bum and I’m not going to waste my time worrying about that stuff. He has no idea who I am, and he’s never talked to me in his life.
It’s surprising that he would even say that to be honest, but I knew this was possible. I talked about it on (The Pat) McAfee (Show) weeks ago, but (it’s) crazy.
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Arkush Decided Before Season Not to Vote Rodgers
As Rodgers mentioned, one of Arkush’s reasons for not voting for him is his vaccination controversy near the midway point of the 2021 season. Rodgers had tested positive for COVID-19 and been forced to spend 10-days in isolation, missing Week 9’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs as a result. Jordan Love ended up starting in his place, and the Packers suffered one of their three losses on the year.
Rodgers also ruffled feathers due to the fact that he had previously told reporters he was “immunized,” admittedly misleading some people to believe he had been vaccinated — although, he was upfront with the Packers, his teammates and the NFL about his status as an unvaccinated player and later apologized for his misleading words.
Apparently, though, none of that done differently would have changed Arkush’s mind. The former Bears radio commentator admitted that his mind was made up about not voting for Rodgers as this year’s MVP before the 2021 season even began, harping on the difficulties he caused his teammates and the organization during his offseason when it looked like he might not return to the team.
“For me? No,” Arkush said when asked if he was ever going to consider Rodgers in 2021. “I just think that the way that he’s carried himself is inappropriate and the vaccine thing was just one more log on the fire. I think he’s a bad guy and I don’t think a bad guy can be the most valuable guy at the same time.”