Aaron Rodgers takes shot at Stephen Tulloch over celebration injury
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers typically does his championship-belt celebration — or “Discount Double Check,” as some like to call it — after he rushes for a touchdown. But during Monday night’s win over the Atlanta Falcons, Rodgers broke it out after throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson.
Rodgers hasn’t scored a rushing touchdown since Week 8, and that was his only one of the season. Was this simply a case of him being anxious to do his trademark celebration? Not quite.
“I just wanted to remind people you can do that celebration and not hurt yourself,” Rodgers said Tuesday on his radio show on 540 ESPN Radio Milwaukee. “It wasn’t even really a big one. It was just a little one.”
Uh oh. In case you didn’t get the joke, Rodgers was taking a shot at Detroit Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury while celebrating a sack of Rodgers back in Week 3.
When Tulloch caught wind of Rodgers’ swipe, he took to Twitter to defend himself.
First off I wasn't doing the discount double check when I got hurt. So my man A Rod can’t stop promoting his discount double move.
— Stephen Tulloch (@stephentulloch) December 10, 2014
9 years and one small setback.If you followed my career you know, I'll be back better then ever. I've beaten bigger odds than this in life.
— Stephen Tulloch (@stephentulloch) December 10, 2014
Much respect to A Rod, great player. I'll leave it at that.
— Stephen Tulloch (@stephentulloch) December 10, 2014
In reality, Tulloch may not have been mocking Rodgers. We saw a Chicago Bears player tear his ACL the exact same way several weeks later when his team was playing the New England Patriots.
In any event, Tulloch has become a punchline — albeit a very cruel one. Heck, his injury even inspired State Farm Insurance to release a statement about celebrating plays on their behalf. We live in a cold, cold world.
