New York Giants legend Tiki Barber seems to believe the New York Jets should think twice before trading for Green Bay Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
“When you go and you’re doing something that feels odd to normal society, which is going to sit in a cabin in the woods for four days and complete sensory isolation, we’re going to talk about it,” Barber explained during Wednesday’s edition of the WFAN “Tiki and Tierney” program, per Ryan Chichester of Audacy. “It’s our job to, and for him to get offended by that, he’s not going to handle the intensity of the New York mediascape. I don’t know if I want him here, because it’s going to turn into a quick pain in the a– if Aaron Rodgers is thin, is that shallow.”
Specifically, Barber was referencing how Rodgers blasted insiders Ian Rapoport of NFL Network and ESPN’s Adam Schefter over their reporting of his upcoming four-day “darkness retreat.” They apparently suggested Rodgers was beginning that isolation period the day after Super Bowl LVII, but he told “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday his getaway was always scheduled for “the end of this week.”
Rodgers also ripped Rapoport and Schefter for not speaking to those in his “inner circle” and for not knowing “s—” about him. Meanwhile, the four-time NFL Most Valuable Player has repeatedly been linked in rumors and stories with the New York Jets since at least last month.
“And as I’m reading the full quotes from his ‘Pat McAfee’ weekly appearance…It just made me start to realize that if he is that sensitive, that he gets upset that people — reporters, opinion makers, influencers, whoever — want to talk about him, he is going to struggle in New York, and I don’t know if it’s the right fit for him,” Barber continued.
Barber added that Rodgers probably should reconsider future spots on “The Pat McAfee Show” if the signal-caller doesn’t want outsiders discussing his off-the-field activities.
For Monday’s “Football Morning in America” column, NBC Sports’ Peter King mentioned that “a few league or team people” he spoke with in Arizona ahead of the Super Bowl were left turned off by Rodgers’ so-called “darkness retreat.” McAfee apologized to Rodgers on Tuesday “for potentially being a platform that has got you into some stuff,” but it seems the damage is already done in the eyes of some.
