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If you've been paying attention to Aaron Rodgers' actions off the field recently, you may have perceived that the Green Bay Packers quarterback is not only a superstar on the field, but also a really smart person off it.
The way Rodgers dealt with his contract saga and whether he would return to the Packers for the 2021 season was a great source of entertainment during the offseason. When he returned, on his own terms, he made sure to set the record straight during a press conference about why he wanted things to change and why he felt the way he felt about the front office.
Rodgers carefully chose his words during that press conference. In the Packers' win against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday, the scene was totally different. Rodgers got carried away with raw emotion in one of the best moments of the 2021 season so far:
Still, Rodgers was back into his public persona during his weekly appearance at The Pac McAfee show, where words are always well-thought out. The quarterback went on a tirade against cancel culture and political correctness that, in his view, are "based on people's own feelings of personal miserability or just distaste for their own situations or life or just an enjoyment of holding other people down with their thumb".
Jason Whitlock believes Rodgers wanted to defend Dave Chappelle
Since Netflix released the special "The Closer," by Dave Chappelle, there's been a lot of discussion about whether it should be on the catalog or not because of the transphobic jokes that appear on the special.
Jason Whitlock, in a column written for The Blaze, believes Rodgers' attack on cancel culture and political correctness was made to defend Chappelle over the criticism he's suffering.
"Rodgers was clearly looking for an avenue to express his dislike of political correctness culture. He told McAfee how much he enjoyed appearing on his podcast because it gives him a platform to showcase his true personality and flex his intellectual chops. Political correctness, woke culture, and cancel culture are dominant topics in American culture at large. Rodgers wants to talk about it. I suspect Rodgers wants to show support for Chappelle", Whitlock wrote on The Blaze.
Whitlock is known for his conservative views, and his article is full of attacks on cancel culture. But he does make an interesting observation: why would Rodgers mention cancel culture and political correctness out of nowhere if he wasn't attacked by it after his trash talk with the Bears fans?
Maybe Rodgers just wanted to express his point without having to face backlash for it. He didn't have to apologize for what he said about the Bears, because it was the old, fun trash talk, but at the same time, maybe the quarterback feels that things are getting too soft these days.
Obviously, it's not just cancel culture when people are being attacked, like trans people in Chappelle's special. But whether Whitlock is right or wrong about Rodgers, only the quarterback can tell.
