"He's an absolute bum" - When Aaron Rodgers lost his cool on an MVP voter
Aaron Rodgers is known for his MVP-worthy performances and outspoken personality. Sometimes, he is diplomatic with his words; sometimes, he outrightly bashes others. So, when an MVP voter called out Rodgers as a ‘bad guy’ and ‘jerk,’ Rodgers couldn’t hold it back.
During a press conference in January 2022, Rodgers made his public response to the comments made by journalist Hub Arkush on his MVP candidacy. Rodgers said:
"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 had zero chance of winning MVP — in my opinion, that should exclude (him from) future votes."
Arkush, a journalist, was one of the voters in the AP Club that declares their NFL MVP candidates for every season. It is considered the de facto MVP award of the NFL as well. During an appearance on "670 The Score" in Chicago, Arkush made the harsh comments as he said:
“I don’t think you can be the biggest jerk in the league and punish your team and your organization and your fan base the way he did and be the Most Valuable Player.”
The incident happened during the end of the 2021-22 regular season, when Rodgers completed 350 of his 542 passes for 3,695 yards and 26 TDs. In all fairness, these numbers were far from the MVP award-winning performance.
However, Rodgers was on the verge of becoming only the second player in history to win three successive MVP awards after his Green Bay Packers predecessor, Brett Favre, in 1997. So, to lose a vote for off-field reasons may have hurt the former Packers legend.
Aaron Rodgers hurt by Hub Arkush's remarks on vaccination
Arkush further elaborated that though he acknowledges Rodgers' performance, he doesn’t consider him an MVP candidate due to his off-field antics, especially his COVID vaccination episode.
However, days later, he apologized, but only for revealing his voting idea. He still had no sympathy for Rodgers, and A-Rod felt a similar sentiment.
“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 this season and make it the ‘Most Valuable Vaccinated Player,’ then he should do that."
Eventually, Patrick Mahomes won the award and Super Bowl, breaking the MVP and Super Bowl jinx after 22 years.