Nov 6, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets injured quarterback Aaron Rodgers reacts during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
(Florham Park, NJ) – The New York Jets are entering a key offseason with plenty of questions to answer.
Who will be the backup QB with Aaron Rodgers coming off a torn Achilles tendon – at the advanced age of 40? How will the team finally get over the offensive hump, other than relying on Rodgers’ prowess and his own return to form? Can the draft bring in depth at WR?
All of those questions and more need be answered. But according to WFAN morning show host Gregg Giannotti, the Jets have bigger problems – and they’re media based. The sports talker argues team owner Woody Johnson needs to figure out a way to muzzle Rodgers, and his appearances on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
On Thursday, as late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel had threatened to sue Rodgers for comments made regarding the Jeffrey Epstein list, Giannotti had seen enough: “You can’t do the show anymore. You can’t. You’re killing us. You killed us for an entire year. Everybody has to respond to it. The team has to respond to it.”
Giannotti did acknowledge that Rodgers is making money by appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show,” but suggested Jets ownership can figure out a way to answer that objection.
“If I’m Woody Johnson, I’ll find a way to get you whatever you’re getting paid from McAfee,” Giannotti explained. He expanded further: “(Find) a way. Robert Kraft found all sorts of different ways to get Tom Brady paid. I’ll find you a way to get that million dollars. I’ll put you in charge, you can be the CEO of Q-tips over at Johnson & Johnson, whatever it is, I’ll get you that million dollars.”
In essence, Giannotti is arguing that Rodgers is a massive distraction – thanks to the show being such a big media presence. “He’s gotta get off that show, and the Jets have to do something about it. But they don’t have the guts to stand up to him and say that. He’ll be like, ‘This is what I do. They pay me, I enjoy doing it and screw you guys.’ And that’s going to be a fight.”
Rodgers won’t stop giving interviews, and his status as a future Hall of Famer who’s also outspoken and willing to walk off the beaten path makes him a “in desire” guest on shows.
But Giannotti seems to think it’s gone too far with McAfee. And he compared it to his time hosting radio shows in Pittsburgh:
“Every single week he made news, it was Ben Roethlisberger used to go on a local radio station in Pittsburgh and say all this stuff on the show about the team that he never said when he was in the locker room to the assembled media,” Giannotti said. “Every single week, it was something new that (Steelers head coach) Mike Tomlin had to respond to, whether he was questioning teammates or coaching or whatever, all this crazy stuff, until the point where they shut it down. That was it. I don’t care how much you’re getting paid, you’re not doing this, it’s detrimental to the team and he stopped doing it.”
Giannotti is clearly of the mindset that Woody Johnson needs to take a similar step.
