Aaron Rodgers appears on "The Pat McAfee Show" day after supposed exit
Aaron Rodgers dropped back in on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" Thursday afternoon, despite McAfee's announcement the day before that his weekly segment was done for the season.
The announcement came on the heels of Rodgers' feud with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, which became national news after Kimmel responded to the quarterback's implication — made on McAfee's show — that he was involved with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. ABC, the network Kimmel's show airs on, and ESPN are both owned by Disney.
McAfee announced on Wednesday's show that season four of "Aaron Rodgers Tuesdays" was done. "There's going to be a lot of people that are happy with that, myself included, to be honest. The way it ended, it got real loud," he said.
McAfee added later in a lengthy post on social media that Rodgers would still make "random surprise welcomed pop ins during big events or offseason adventures." That very night, Alabama coaching legend Nick Saban announced his retirement and, the following day, the New England Patriots announced it was parting ways with longtime head coach Bill Belichick.
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"Ladies and gentlemen, the last human that Bill Belichick talked to on the field as the New England Patriots head coach, Aaron Rodgers," McAfee said as Rodgers appeared on screen, claiming to be in the woods. The Patriots fell to Rodgers' Jets in their season finale on Jan. 7. Rodgers was on the sideline for that game, having suffered an Achilles injury during his very first series of the season.
"We played him in 2018 and 2022, and both times he waited to make sure that he saw me after the game," Rodgers said of Belichick. "I just thought that that was one of the classiest things ever and I have so much respect for him doing that."
Rodgers also recalled interviewing with Saban in 2005 — the year Rodgers was drafted into the NFL and Saban's first year as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. "The game is better, whether it's college or pro, when those guys are in it," Rodgers said.
After Rodgers signed off, McAfee and cohost A.J. Hawk joked about the quarterback ostensibly not being allowed on the program and expressed gratitude for his support.
"Do you know how many things I've been through with Aaron Rodgers, just in our short relationship? Yeah, I was not pumped to be in the middle of any of that — we all have friends that put us in situations where we're like, did we have to?" McAfee said. "I've been that guy."