In recent years, Rodgers’s opinions have become increasingly problematic.

By Jemele Hill

Mike De Sisti / ReutersJANUARY 14, 2024, 2:20 PM ET

One of Aaron Rodgers’s biggest strengths as a Hall of Fame–caliber player is his awareness. At his best, the New York Jets quarterback can anticipate the movements of aggressive defenders and use his legs to create breathtaking plays down the field.

If only Rodgers possessed such sharp awareness away from the football field, where he seems to have a knack for creating unnecessary drama and exposing himself as a fake intellectual who can’t seem to stop showcasing his rampant narcissism. He isn’t in danger of jeopardizing his inevitable entrance into the Hall of Fame, but the more he digs into these conspiracies and attempts to moonlight as an infectious-disease expert, the more his moves will overshadow his brilliant career.

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Rodgers’s latest controversy began earlier this month during his weekly paid appearance on ESPN’s daily sports program The Pat McAfee Show. During the show, the Super Bowl champion insinuated that the late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel was linked to the financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of operating an elaborate sex-trafficking ring involving underage girls who catered to high-profile clientele. Recently, a set of court documents was unsealed and released to the public as part of a lawsuit against Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking girls for Epstein. He died by suicide in 2019. The unsealed records include various deposition transcripts and exhibits from the Maxwell suit, in which lots of famous (and not so famous) names appear.