One day after ESPN's Pat McAfee said New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers would not be on his show any longer but promised "random surprise, welcomed pop-ins," the NFL star popped in to give his comments about Bill Belichick, who parted ways with the New England Patriots earlier Thursday.
Rodgers, saying he was calling from "the woods" to talk about "massive names being amicably departed from two teams" was introduced as the "last man Belichick talked to" while leaving the field.
Rodgers' appearance came shortly after McAfee disputed reports that the NFL star was sacked from his show for the rest of the NFL season after making controversial comments about ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, saying instead that Rodgers' last day was Tuesday because his contract had ended.
During his brief appearance Thursday, Rodgers spoke about Belichick's "love of the game" as well as discussing Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, who retired on Wednesday.
"Bill Belichick loves the game of football," Rodgers said. "We played him in 2018 and 2022 and both times he waited to make sure that he saw me after the game. I have so much respect for him doing that and it's one of the classiest things ever."
McAfee pointed out that Rodgers was the last person Belichick spoke to as the head coach of the Patriots, as they spoke after the Jets defeated the Patriots last Sunday.
The ESPN host said his fans "know that [the weekly "Aaron Rodgers Tuesday" segment] ends shortly after Aaron's team's season ends," McAfee said in a statement, reported People.
"He'll make random surprise, welcomed pop-ins during big events or offseason adventures, but it's always been a season thing. That's how it's been."
Rodgers earlier this month came under fire after suggesting on the ESPN show that Kimmel could be linked to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted pedophile, drawing threats of a lawsuit from the ABC host.
"Your reckless words put my family in danger," Kimmel said on X, formerly Twitter. "Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court."
Rodgers' remark drew backlash not only over Kimmel's threat of a lawsuit but also because he said what he did on ESPN, as both the sports network and ABC fall under the same parent company, Disney.
Kimmel called on Rodgers to apologize, but Tuesday, on his final appearance on the McAfee show, the quarterback talked about COVID-19 vaccines and claimed that Kimmel misunderstood what he'd said about Epstein.
McAfee announced on his show Wednesday that Rogers would not be back, and said that he's "pumped" that Rodgers' appearances won't "be every single Wednesday of my life."
"To be honest, the way it ended, it got real loud," he added. "I'm happy that he's not going to be [in] my mentions going forward, which is great news."
Later, McAfee said on social media that he was not happy that he found himself in "political wars and public beefs because of something that a guest has said on our show … including a lawsuit that was VERY public."
"I think what I've come to realize is that it's gonna come with the territory of this venture," he added on X. "We are much more aware of that now. And, for the good of our lives, happiness … we're going to try and avoid as many as possible."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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