Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has come out strongly against a recent Bleacher Report story that painted a rather unflattering picture of both himself and former coach Mike McCarthy.
Appearing on ESPN Milwaukee on Monday, Rodgers called the story a “smear attack” consisting of anecdotes from “irrelevant, bitter players who all have an agenda.”
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers to @ESPNMilwaukee on the recent Bleacher Report piece: "The thing is… it's not a mystery, this was a smear attack by a writer trying to advance his career talking with mostly irrelevant, bitters players who all have an agenda."
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 8, 2019
Aaron Rodgers on @ESPNMilwaukee: "I will tell you this about Mike… I love Mike McCarthy. Mike has been a huge part of my success and my career… We have had issues. Every long relationship does have issues. But the way we dealt with those issues was face-to-face."
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 8, 2019
Rodgers denied specific aspects of the story as well, including an allegation that Packers CEO Mark Murphy told Rodgers “don’t be the problem” upon informing him of new coach Matt LaFleur’s hiring.
On Mark Murphy telling Rodgers "don't be a problem" while informing him the #Packers were hiring Matt LaFleur, Rodgers says: "It’s ridiculous. It’s 100 percent patently false." Says it's the same two unnamed teammates always saying things in these stories.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 8, 2019
The Bleacher Report story was not flattering for Rodgers. One portion of it claimed that he consistently undermined McCarthy’s coaching, going as far as to force his wide receivers to choose between listening to him or the coach. Obviously, it’s in his best interest to shoot this stuff down as quickly as he can.
If Rodgers is telling the truth, it would seem he knows who’s behind the leaks. It may be worth dealing with that behind-the-scenes.
