Aaron Rodgers Thinks The Media Has Too Much Access On The Field

CBS- “With the new microphones on the guards, and the nationally-televised games with the low camera and the mike, it picks up a lot of stuff,” Rodgers told CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco. “You are constantly changing what words are live and what words are dead. You know the D is watching that for words and cadence, so we have to change it all the time. That part is stupid. It’s too much access. Fans like it, so the NFL will keep doing it.”


Just a little something to think about on Tuesday morning for all the office dwellers out there. While you are about to put a bullet in your brain at the very thought of concocting one more repetitive spreadsheet, Aaron Rodgers is dreading changing his cadence 16 times a year (potentially more depending on the playoffs). See, everyone has something they hate about their job. Doesn't that make you feel better about your profession as you throw back your 2nd or 3rd coffee of the morning and pray it helps to put a smile on your face? No? Well, maybe you should do a little more research into how hard it is to be a professional athlete these days. Memorizing words is really hard, and Aaron Rodgers only gets paid, like, 8 figures a year to do it on a game by game basis. Maybe, we should be a little more forgiving to multimillionaires that have to do the equivalent of a 3rd grade homework assignment to stay competitive in such a media driven league. 

In 1984, Magic Johson signed a 25 year deal for $1 million dollars a year, this making him the third professional athlete to make seven figures annually. In 2013, Aaron Rodgers signed a 5 year contract for $22 million dollars a year, which at the time was the highest annual salary in football. What has changed since then? Well, other than the value of the dollar and the amount of money in circulation, the volume of media access in sports. Like it or not, that very same media access is what makes the NFL such a great product. It's 2015, society is filled with a bunch of overindulgent assholes that are greedy for new technology and more information. We don't want the curtain peeled back, we want it burnt to the ground. The viewing, paying public wants to see everything that goes into being a professional athlete, whether it's convenient for Aaron Rodgers or not. It's probably not the most convenient thing in the world for quarterbacks to do, but if the worst part of their week is switching up some vocal tells than they are doing better than most. Hell, for $22 million a year I would speak only in French and play with a camera lodged between my asscheeks. I understand that being an NFL signal caller isn't easy, but it's far more fun than nearly every other job out there. So maybe you could hold your tongue next time Aaron. Especially since speaking out isn't going to make people feel bad for you, and it sure as hell isn't going to change anything.