Why was Aaron Rodgers removed from Pat McAfee Show? Possible reasons explored in aftermath of Jets QB’s rift with Jimmy Kimmel

Pat McAfee will reportedly no longer have Aaron Rodgers on his show every week, at least until the NFL season concludes. For the last two years, Rodgers has been a near-weekly guest on the show, getting an hour on Tuesdays to speak with McAfee and the world.

He spoke on the current state of his team, his NFL future and COVID-19 vaccines, while challenging players to debates and starting beef with others.

However, that won't continue. The report doesn't give an exact reason why Pat McAfee is not bringing the New York Jets QB back for a little while, but backlash to his recent behaviour could be a factor.

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Why is Pat McAfee not bringing Aaron Rodgers back on the show?

Over the last few weeks, the controversial guest spot for Aaron Rodgers on the Pat McAfee Show has gotten even more controversial. Over the last few months, there have been numerous incidents.

Rodgers used the show to call out Travis Kelce for being in a Pfizer ad. He attempted to get Kelce to come on the show and debate Rodgers alongside another frequent target of the QB's ire: Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Aaron Rodgers has been removed from the Pat McAfee Show

Rodgers brought up the vaccine or COVID-19 on an almost weekly basis, and it only got worse from there. This all came to a head when Rodgers made an off-color joke insinuating that Jimmy Kimmel (who works for ESPN's parent company) was involved with Jeffrey Epstein.

The television host fired back and threatened litigation, following which Rodgers doubled down. Despite Kimmel's name not being on the documents that were released, the former Green Bay Packers star said he wouldn't have accused the late night host without "concrete evidence".

This happened in conjunction with a report that McAfee's show was struggling in the ratings department. This prompted both Rodgers and McAfee to call out ESPN executives on the air, and while it's unclear if said executives took exception to it, it can't be ignored in the grand scheme.

McAfee is an independent player in this. He's not an employee of ESPN, which is why he can keep the brand and air elsewhere. They pay him to use a timeslot on their channel for his popular show, so he isn't necessarily beholden to them.

This gives him the freedom to do and say whatever he wants. In the wake of the first Rodgers comment on Kimmel, McAfee backed his friend. Things continued to spiral, though, and now the two will be taking a break. It's unclear if Rodgers will once again be a regular when the season ends.

Furthermore, it's unclear if either McAfee or Rodgers will continue to use the guest appearances as a way to say quite literally anything. Disney or ESPN may have leaned on them to stop going down those roads, and that may have played a role in Rodgers' upcoming absence.

All this is to say that there's no clear reason why Aaron Rodgers is not coming back, but there are a whole lot of potential examples of why some felt it would be a good idea for him to step away.