Notoriously Thin-Skinned Aaron Rodgers Throws Shade at Perpetually Flailing Lions

Image via Zimbio

Generally regarded as the best quarterback in the NFL, the greatness of the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers may very well be the result of an evolutionary adaptation to an extreme inability to deal with criticism or perceived slights. In fact, sometimes it feels like his entire career is built on an insatiable desire to right a series of wrongs that may or may not exist outside his own mind.

Take, for example, Rodgers’ one-sided feud with Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson, perhaps the most painfully innocuous athlete in the history of professional sports. It began back in January when the Seahawks defeated the Packers in crushing overtime fashion in the NFC Championship game, after which Wilson credited God for the win, as he does. A full nine months later the teams met again, but this time Rodgers got the win, at which point he declared God a Packers fan.

Even more petty was the temper tantrum Rodgers threw in 2012 over a fawning 60 Minutes profile. Incensed over the amount of his charity work that made the final cut, Rodgers accused the show of taking his quotes out of context to further their agenda. He raised such a stink that executive producer Jeff Fager felt compelled to respond. Fager denied taking anything out of context and said that anyone but an “overly sensitive” Rodgers would’ve been flattered by the story.

Rodgers’ uncomfortably combative temperament is often compared favorably to the “us/me against the world” mentality of New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady, which really isn’t fair. Obnoxious as he can be, Brady does almost all of his talking on the field. He makes it a point to give the media nothing, and never would’ve reacted so belligerently to a 60 Minutes profile, probably because he never would’ve needed them to validate him in the first place.

On Wednesday Rodgers held a conference call with members of the Detroit sports media. During that call he was asked to comment on the impressively lopsided of the supposed divisional rivalry, and whether or not the streak is an advantage for the Packers or detriment to the Lions. His response was decidedly un-Brady like.

Via the Detroit Free Press:

“That’s a good question,” Rodgers said, “but I don’t really think it does because there are probably some guys on both teams who weren’t born when that streak began. I’ve been part of a lot of the games. There have been some close ones over the years, some battles. It’s just kind of fell our way the last 20 times or whatever, but it’s always been very competitive.”

After some laughter from the Detroit reporters who have seen their share of Green Bay beat downs, Rodgers gently pleaded for some decorum.

“Come on now,” he said. “Keep it together. Keep it professional.”

Say what you will about Rodgers, but the guy can deliver a scorching burn without so much as a match to assist. There are a lot of really mean ways to say the Lions haven’t won at Lambeau Field since 1991, but perhaps none meaner than casually dismissing, what has to be an ongoing source of embarrassment and despair in Detroit, as something they accidentally did 24 times in a row. Oops!

Because you have to have a sense of humor to write about the Lions every day (the stress and futility would kill you otherwise), the reporters had a chuckle and produced copy devoid of outrage. Of course, just because they (wisely) didn’t bite, doesn’t mean they weren’t intentionally baited. A-Rodge is a master baiter.

After losing two-straight for the first time since 2010, a sideline meltdown, and a busted Microsoft Surface, you can bet that Rodgers is feeling the sting of the Green Bay doomsday scenarios currently playing out in the press—no one in the NFL has proven himself more consistently by the opinions of the national sports media. That’s why he weaponized the Lions constant state of chaos to provide a little perspective.

And why not? As long as they win, and history strongly suggests they will, a home game against the 1-7 Lions will squash (at least temporarily) the notion that the 6-2 Packers are about to fall off a cliff. And Aaron Rodgers will be there right after the game to say I told you so.