"Why is he doing Pat McAfee’s show in June?" - Mike Florio calls out Aaron Rodgers over comments on not wanting attention

Aaron Rodgers insists he wants to fade from the spotlight. Yet his weekly media appearances keep pulling him right back into it. On Tuesday, the veteran Steelers quarterback made his latest appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show, where he pushed back against the public’s fascination with his personal life.

Rodgers has reportedly inked a $1 million deal to appear weekly on the high-profile program throughout the NFL season. On Wednesday, NBC Sports analyst Mike Florio questioned Rodgers’ choice to go on air while expressing frustration over media attention.

"Always be leery of people who voluntarily appear on a very public platform and declare, 'I don't want attention,'" Florio wrote in a column titled "If Aaron Rodgers doesn’t want attention, why is he doing Pat McAfee’s show in June?" published on Pro Football Talk.

"That's what Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers did on Tuesday. There was no reason for him to appear on Pat McAfee's show. But Rodgers nevertheless became the center of attention in order to again make the case that he doesn't want to be the center of attention."

NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers Minicamp - Source: Imagn

Rodgers, 41, intends to retire after the 2025 season and referenced the elusive film character Keyser Söze to describe how he plans to disappear from the public eye.

Analyst calls Aaron Rodgers 'self-serving' after his Pat McAfee appearance

NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers Minicamp - Source: Imagn

Aaron Rodgers’ comments this week included a plea for media outlets to stop covering his life for “five or six weeks,” adding that the “entitlement to information” about him was, in his words, “ridiculous.”

Former Super Bowl champion and ESPN radio host Chris Canty chimed in, calling the quarterback’s media strategy “self-serving” during Wednesday’s edition of "Unsportsmanlike."

"It is the definition of self-serving with the timing of Aaron Rodgers doing this," Canty said. "Everything we heard him say on the 'McAfee Show' had nothing to do with helping the Pittsburgh Steelers compete for a championship. It all had to do with him saying he wants to come back for the love of the game."

Rodgers’ complicated relationship with the spotlight has followed him for years, from his MVP runs in Green Bay to a brief, injury-plagued stint with the New York Jets. Now in Pittsburgh, he’s been tasked with helping a playoff-hungry franchise bounce back from recent struggles.