November 9, 2021 • 34 mins
FS1 producer Martin Weiss is in for Chris, and he and Rob explain how Aaron Rodgers has permanently damaged his own reputation with the way he's conducted himself the past few days following his positive COVID test, tell us why the NBA needs to take Kyrie Irving's name off the All-Star ballot so that fans don't try to vote a guy into the All-Star Game who hasn't even played this season, and discuss the biggest difference between Rodgers and Kyrie.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the best of the Odd
Couple with Chris Brusso and Rod Harker. All right, Martin,
let's get there. Aaron Rodgers, his weekly interview with Pat
McAfee happened today and made a little bit of news
(00:42):
by basically owning up a little bit to what he
said last week. And you know, I mean, he didn't
fully apologize or admit that he lied. He said he
misled people. I think he flat out lied. He was
asked a direct question, was he vaccinated? The answer was
either yes or no, and he said he was immunized,
(01:03):
but he was not vaccinated. So he finally spoke up
for that, and and but he still stood by his
statements and his comments. And I'm gonna start here, Martin.
As much as there's a lot of people out there,
not only do they admire Aaron Rodgers as a quarterback
(01:24):
and his ability. I think he's the best quarterback. I'm
talking about skill set, not accomplishments. Skill set that I've
ever seen. He's got touched. He could throw the ball far, long, far,
he can avoid pressure, he can run for first down,
his pinpoint accuracy, he doesn't turn the ball over, seldom
(01:46):
does he throw interceptions. He's just he does everything you
would love to see a quarterback too. And with that,
there's a lot of people who admire him and look
at him as a role model. Whether he wants to
be or not, there are and whether they should or not. Honestly,
it's just the nature of the business that he's in. Absolutely,
(02:07):
you know, you don't get to say, well, I don't
want to be a role mode. That's not how it works.
And I read a piece written by Kareem Abdul Jabbar today.
Did you see that piece, Martin? I did. It was
well done by Kareem, just well done, well laid out,
and he talked about the responsibility of being a role model,
and and people look up to you and Aaron has
(02:29):
it twisted. It's okay to just want to be your
own man and say I don't want to do this.
I just I don't feel good about it. Whatever, whatever
your reason, I just don't want to do it. I
think if you say that and you move on, people
can accept it and you don't sound crazy and you're
not putting out misinformation. But what people have a problem
(02:50):
with is when you're one of those people and somebody
who people looked up to, when you lie straight to
people's face, it's hard for people to look at you
at any other time down the road and take you
at face value. And that's just Is Martin. And that's
really what the crux of the matter is. Right Because
(03:11):
Aaron Rodgers on the first day he went on McAfee,
I believe it was Friday, coming out after he came
out with after it came out that he had caught
COVID and and all that, he goes out and says
one of the last things he says in his forty
five minute residency on this show, he goes, this needs
to be a conversation, not a controversy. Well, the fact
(03:31):
of the matter is, Aaron, you've missed the boat for
it to be a conversation. Because we've had these conversations
about several players. We had it about Kirk Cousins. We
had in our Carson Wentz. We had it about Lamar
Jackson twice, rob because he caught COVID twice. Has anybody
has has he been uh canceled by cancel culture or
the woke mob that they come for him. No, apparently
(03:53):
the woke mob has missed out with the cancel culture
nails for Lamar Jackson's coffin, because he's only depending on
where you look at the front runner or second runner
run for NFL MVP right now, Hello, hello, exactly. And
that's the biggest thing. Aaron Rodgers took advantage of a
situation in which you have a whole bunch of reporters
who are asking these questions whether or not I'm not
(04:14):
even sure if they were in person in that moment
in time, because of the way of the world that
we live in with COVID and so on and so forth,
like they had to wear masks, had to be separated
social distance, so on and so forth. Somebody asked you
if you're vaccinated, and you respond with I'm immunized, and
then knowing that the pushback has come back with well,
is that a hip of violation is that of this
is that of this is I don't feel comfortable answering
(04:35):
that people are gonna go ahead and take that at
face value. But the deeper thing about all of it,
what we assumed that he was vaccinated. I didn't even
need to hear the press conference, whether or not the
press conference at the court or not. I'm looking at
his actions on the sidelines of when I'm watching the television,
when I'm watching the games, I'm seeing him in the
(04:55):
practice that they shoot from Green Brand and send back
to the different television networks to descemb throughout the throughout
the country. He's not doing the things that you said
you're supposed to be doing if you're if you're unvaccinated
or under That's why controversy. That is the controversy. It's
not that you're unvaccinated, Aaron Rodgers. There's not that you
have your own vaccination protocols or immunization protocols, or you
(05:18):
want to go talk to Joe Rogan or whoever and
take iver mecton and who knew knows what. That's not
the problem, It's really not. It's the problem is that
you hit it from everybody right, and you didn't allow
those reporters in the press conference to even have a
chance Martin to be like, wait a minute, you got it.
We need a mask, or we need to do zoom,
(05:39):
or we need to be you know what I mean, Like,
if you're not vaccinated, you don't know what and you
could say your teammates and all those people knew. Many
people did not know that. That's the problem. Everybody didn't know.
Everybody wasn't in the locker room. And then for you
to do that stuff. And so let's let's take a
listen of what Aaron Rodgers said today where he kind
(06:02):
of apologized, but you know, like at least acknowledged I
should say some wrongdoing what he what he stood by
what he said earlier. Look, I shared an opinion that
is polarizing. I get it, and I misled some people
about my status, which I take full responsibility of it.
But in the end, I have to stay true to
(06:23):
who I am and what I'm about, and I stand
behind the things that I said, and I, you know,
have a ton of empathy for people who have been
going through the worst part of this pandemic, which has
affected all of us in different ways. But so many people,
you know, like I said with lives that were lost,
lives that were forever changed, and I have a ton
of compassion empathy for those people, and I've tried to
(06:46):
help out, you know, as much as I can. The
other stuff is so out of my control. And there's
gonna be people that don't like you, and they don't
don't and h it for things you said, or might
not even understand what you said or know what you said.
It might just see know a headline. And that's fine.
I believe that people are inside of their opinion and
even its opinion that's unfavorable with me. But I'm going
(07:07):
to continue to try and be the best version of
me moving forward. And I'm excited about getting back on
the field as soon as possible. And there it is.
I mean, I just even Kyrie. Kyrie was up front, right,
and he didn't want to do it. Okay, you stay home.
The Nets didn't want any part of a part time player,
(07:29):
right Martin. That's it. I mean, here's the thing I
don't In this country. You can pretty much do and
say whatever you want within reason, especially if it's only
going to affect you, right, that can't have misinformation to
the masses. But but what you can't do is expect
that your actions come without lack of actions do not
come with lack of consequence, right, Like, you don't get
(07:51):
to just do whatever you want at carte blanche and
not expect the other things to come down to you.
Like Kyrie Irving, he does not want to get the vaccine. Okay, Well,
you know what, he didn't have a problem with. All
the other things that came with it are the problem,
or rather, the other things that came with him not
taking the vaccine did not outweigh his unwillingness to get it. Right,
the other the other negatives him going and him to
(08:13):
have him not playing basketball this year, or him maybe
only playing on the road, or him maybe playing in
the officer game. We'll talk about that and a little bit.
It's all none of those consequences impacted Kyrie's decision enough
to make him change his mind. Right, So, like, but
the Aaron Rodgers think he was not willing to take
the consequences of his actions and reality and the idea
(08:34):
that you're gonna quote Martin Luther King Junior behind you know,
unjustice law, unjust law. Well, Martin Luther King Junior wrote
that letter inside of Birmingham jail. He wrote it literally
suffering the consequences of the actions that he chose because
he felt that the laws were unjust. Aaron Rodgers did
(08:54):
none of that. And he's just disingenuous to make him
out to anybody but a liar at this point in time.
Great court back, absolutely one of the best, first ballot
Hall of Famer, Absolutely, absolutely honestly a liar at this
moment in time. No, I there's no other word. I
don't I don't even know what else you could say.
And and uh, you know the what was it? The
health company in Wisconsin dropped him because because it's a
(09:17):
conflict of interest. Right then they had for people's wellness.
How can they have one of the spokesmen talking about,
you know, giving misinformation about about COVID and about the vaccine.
You could say you don't want to take it, and
and and this is the other thing too, you know
with McAfee that like he's not a reporter, he's not
(09:37):
gonna ask follow ups Martin, he's not gonna press press
Aaron Rodgers to explain when you say you're allergic to whatever. Okay,
so you talk to the doctor, did he say what
doctor told you you couldn't take it, and what exactly
are you allergic to? No, I mean, and I want
to make that fair criticism. But the part of the
problem that I have is with this whole COVID situation
(10:00):
that people are dancing on X shows around it and
saying his personal responsibility. The actual reporters in the room
didn't feel like they needed to follow up. It's not
about like Aaron Rodgers gave the impression with his answer
that was not there. But but but I understand, I
understand what you're saying. But I'm just having trust because
we could have figured this out on August twenty six. No,
because you couldn't have because by his answer, even when
(10:24):
he said there are players or whatever who aren't who
who I'm not gonna pass judgment for because they haven't
done it or they like, he made the thing that
those are other people who are unvaccinated and I'm not
gonna pass judgment against them. So that's why there's no
follow up to that. If you listen to the sound bite,
(10:45):
he clearly puts himself not in the not in the
party of the unvaccinated because he said he wasn't gonna
pass judgment on those people who decided not to do it.
That doesn't sound like, well I'm in that group, So
so from I don't blame reporters that day Martin for
not following up and asking him again because he was
(11:07):
asked a direct question. Go back and listen to that sound.
And I don't think it's an anybody's fought him for
not following them up either. My only my only point
in saying that, you know, not killing Pat McAfee for
not being they tried and true Big Jay Journals follow
ups is Aaron Rodgers has shown a propensity to not
answer the question regardless. I get it, but but but
(11:28):
but it just to allow a guy just to talk
and not explain himself thoroughly is as a job of
an interviewer. Okay, you might not have gone to j school, Martin,
but but you got you don't You don't do a
good job for to listen up. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Brussar and
(11:48):
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(12:11):
Facts only. Make sure you check your feelings at the door,
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(12:33):
trash talking on dead Spin today, you can look it
up on my social media as well. I trashed the
idea that the NBA didn't figure it out so that
Kyrie Irvin shouldn't be on the All Star ballot, and
only from the standpoint that he will probably not play
a game, and he will probably. I think there'll be
(12:58):
some sort of drive or move men from the people
who are Kyrie supporters for the unvaccinated and all that
this will become again a political not political, but it'll
become like a movement that has nothing to do with basketball.
It'll be about people who just don't want to follow
(13:19):
the masses and try to get this vaccine behind us.
They we'll just say we don't want to be vaccinated.
And Kyrie standing up for us, so we're gonna vote
for him to be on the All Star team. And
I don't think it's right. I think the All Star
team is supposed to be about the best players through
the first half of that NBA season, and if Kyrie
(13:40):
was playing, more power to him. But I think there'll
be somebody an All Star, a guard, a point guard
out of positions, don't really matter who won't be on
that team because people will vote for Kyrie, who hadn't
played all year, to play in the All Star Game,
and it will become a spectacle, and the attention of
(14:02):
the players who play in the league, who are supposed
to cherish that moment of an All Star Game, will
be turned into a political pig skin so that people
can kick it around and say, ah, look at the NBA.
They wouldn't let Kyrie play. The people are spoken, and
they voted for Kyrie to start for the Eastern Conference.
(14:24):
He's in the game. He hadn't played a minute all year.
Is that what you want the All Star Game to be? No,
it doesn't make it. You have to play. I don't
see how you can be in the All Star like
it's one thing if you're debating. Note maybe ten games
or fifteen games or enough to have played, right to
have played to qualify for the All Star Game. I
(14:44):
don't think you should necessarily have like a game limit,
because again, the All Star Game is for fans, right,
So like, if a guy like Jannis, for example, just
happen to see him on TV, I wish him nothing
but the best. But let's say, like right now, he
gets hurt, and then two days before the All Star
Game he's cleared to play, and he can play the
All Star Game. Then then the question is does Milwaukee
wanted him to play? But absolutely I do, like as
(15:05):
a fan of the game, I want to see him
out there. But like you have to, Like, again, we
were talking about this with Aaron Rodgers, there has to
be some consequences for your actions, and this is the
consequence that Kyrie said, I'm good with. I don't want
to play basketball if it means I have to get vaccinated.
That that means I don't want to play regular season basketball.
I don't want to play basketball in Brooklyn. I don't
want to play basketball and Indiana or Philadelphia, or are
(15:26):
Los Angeles or any of the other road places I'd
go play basketball, and it's not gonna be in the
All Star Game either, because those are those are just
the rules. Like I don't understand what the what the
question would be as to why he is on the
Why I don't even say when White's on the ball
in the first place. Right, Well, because the only people
and you know I read this story, the only people
(15:48):
who are are barred as if you're like suspended or
you know what I mean, you have some sort of legal,
uh legal issue, Martin. I mean, but this isn't this
isn't exactly the twenty twenty mid terms, Like this is
the All Star Game, and especially when you think about
how being voted for some of these things impacts people's
(16:09):
contracts and supermaxes and so on, Like he can't be
on it, he can't be an All Star this year.
It just this is what it says that basically all
players on the rosters will put on the ballot. Both
the league and team sources indicated this is from the
New York Post that because h Irving is still on
the nets official roster sent home but not suspended, he
(16:33):
won't be an exception, and despite not having played a
second for the Nets this year, and they say the
league isn't currently expected to take an unprecedented action to
star wars to stave off the possibility. Though this is, uh,
this is unprecedented, you know what I mean, Like like
(16:54):
this could wind up where the NBA has egg on
its face. Well especially too, because this is a type
of thing that I mean in general, Like when you
take away the reason why Kyrie is not playing, let's
just say, like literally he was like he was like
Ben Simmons right now, and it was taking a mental
health breaker. Wherever Ben Simmons is describing his breakaway from
(17:14):
the Philadelphia seventy six ers, neither one of those guys
who've played a minute all season, right, But the thing
about Ben Simmons is his stance is not going to
one that's going to be co opted by all types
of other people because he couldn't you see an online
movement to get Kyrie elected as an All Star starter
from people that have no interest in the game whatsoever.
(17:35):
Like this is what I'm saying. The game is gonna
be hijacked by people who don't care about the NBA.
It just feels like this is a great opportunity for
the people who when when the Milwaukee Bucks walk off
the court after Jacob Blake is shot in Wisconsin. Who say,
what about China? This is a great opportunity for everybody
who has that what about China this in their soul
(17:56):
about the NBA to be like, well, here you go,
here's some of your real medicine right back in your face.
Medicine in your face for you. Let me let me
say this. So if Irving does get voted on, okay,
if Kyrie does get on there, people could go back
to nineteen ninety two to find a similar situation. It's
(18:17):
vaguely similar. Okay. Magic Johnson was forced to retire due
to HIV Martin That was that was thirty years ago Sunday,
thirty years ago Sunday that he announced that he had
the HIV but got voted into the All Star Game
and had twenty five points nine assists in that game
(18:38):
to earn the MVP honors. I covered that game, that
All Star Game in Orlando in nineteen ninety two. Magic.
I do not look at it the same way as
Kyrie Irving situation. And currently this is the way the
league does it. Fans constitute fifty percent of the All
Star vote and the other part is split by the
(18:58):
media and the players. Let's bring in Rob. Rob g
is on that side that believes that Kywee should be
on the ballot, And do you think he should be
an All Star even if he doesn't play a minute
this season? If he gets voted in, then yeah, you know,
because the contrary to what you know, people in the
media might think the All Star Game is not for them.
(19:20):
The All Star Game is for the fans. The All
Star Game is supposed to be a showcase of your
best talent. K I agree with he hasn't played at all,
but that's not necessarily his fault because if he played
in DC, if he played in Miami, if he played
in pick your other favorite city, then he would be
on the All Star team. No, he doesn't play there
(19:43):
if he doesn't understand that, But you can't say while
the reason why Kyrie Irving is not going to be
an All Star is because he didn't get vaccinated. But
Bradley Beal, who's in the exact same situation, can be
an All Star simply because he plays in a different
home city. But it's not that he's being penalized because
he didn't get vaccinated. He's not playing. Okay, so do
(20:03):
you want to be the but he's not playing that
that's my issue is but that's Magic Johnson didn't play,
So who cares? And that Magic Johnson? Magic Johnson was
one of the all time great players who was forced
out of the game because of serious illness. And when
(20:25):
people decided that he could play, there was like a
feeling of u of like let's give magic this kind
of thing, like, uh, Flowers, so what you're from Magic
Johnson because you like him more? No, No, here's the
difference the people. This will be hijacked by non basketball people.
(20:48):
Everything that's by non sports people. Not everything. Yes, not
anything that has any kind of political or social you know,
can be tied to it in any kind of way,
has been high. Well, give me an examp. Colin Kaepernick
kneeling for the anthem and saying black Lives matter got
hijacked by a group that had nothing to do with
(21:09):
him black Lives Matter. The group had nothing to do
with what Colin Kaepernick was kneeling for. No. But but
the point is I'm talking about you have a showcase
game that will turn into a circus and take away
the attention of the sport of the league by a
guy who hadn't played all year. I think it's very awkward.
(21:31):
It doesn't feel right, and and that's the problem I have,
and somebody will be left off who deserve who played
during the year. I think Magic and Martin used the
right term. He was forced out and this was like
an appreciation decided. But at that time, thirty years ago,
people didn't know. Thirty years ago he could. He didn't
(21:53):
know that much about let him play with HIV. So yes, okay,
people maybe buying months after gether here, Like he might
have been forced to retire, but it's kind of like
the same. You know, he was either gonna retire or
not gonna be like it was easy for easy. It
was much better for him to retire optically than anything else. Right, So,
like the NBA was like, all right, let's have this moment.
I'm not saying that directly, uh, the one directly followed
(22:14):
the other. But the NBA said, one of our greats,
one of our legends, is not going to be able
to play anymore. We can have this game, which overarchingly
does not matter in the grand scheme of the standings,
or we didn't even make it that exact same argument,
and just do it in the context now because one
is not one of the greatest, is not one of
(22:36):
the greatest, one of the greatest players in our league today,
one of our most marketable league today is eligible to
play because it's in a different city that does not
have the same vaccine mandate. That but but, but this
is this is where we all live in different places,
rob Ge. We understand that lay our rules here were
(22:57):
different than what they were doing in Florida and Texas.
Those are the cards. Those are the people right who
who legislate and protect and decide what's gonna be good
for the out of the people in this area or
whatever area you live in. So those are the ones
you have to either live by, or you move out
of town, you move somewhere else. To be fair and
(23:17):
also to be fair to the rest of the league.
The NBA in twenty twenty, they said that they were
going to make allowances for this type of COVID stuff
like they like the Toronto Raptors played the whole season
in Florida because there wasn't happening in Canada with the COVID,
So they made the allowances for COVID they said twenty
twenty one, that's over with. It's just the rules. It's
like saying James Harden should be an All Star because
(23:38):
he you know, normally, he would have gotten all these
foul calls and he would have made all these free
throws and he would have averaged thirty points. But he's not.
He's not there. He's like, he's just not shooting, like
Kyrie's not there. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports
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Radio app. Search f SR to listen live. Let's now
(23:59):
talk about both to these guys together, all right, Aaron
Rodgers and Kyrie. And I've seen people try to say, like, oh, well,
Kyrie was demonags and Aaron Rodgers wasn't. I just don't believe.
I think Aaron Rodgers got a brunt of it from people,
so I people trying to make it like he got
(24:20):
kid gloves compared to Kyrie. I don't agree. Yeah, Now,
I don't. I see both of you catching types of
hell right now, everybody, both of them are catching all
types of hell. And honestly, I don't know what financial
realization outside of the outside of the game checks that
he's missing from missing Brooklyn home games. I don't know
what the financial implication for Kyrie has been, whereas Aaron
(24:41):
Rodgers has lost sponsors already. I don't think Kyrie's lost
any sponsors from from his stance on what sponsors other
than Nike I think, right, is that I'm just saying
he hasn't you know what I'm saying. I haven't seen
Kyrie losing this sponsor and losing that sponsor. Where have
you've seen with Aaron Rodgers? No? Absolutely, and that and
that's the point, like people are making it out like
(25:02):
like nothing happened to Aaron Rodgers. I mean you saw
the commercial load for State Farm dropped dramatically, right, I
mean they endorsed him, saying, hey, we're gonna stick with him. Uh.
But but they did make a change in the ads.
I think that that was pretty clear. And I guess
they'll wait to see what kind of, you know, pushback
they get from customers and see if people are canceling
(25:25):
policies or calling up or complaining or whatever. But but
let's let's talk about it. And this, uh, this this
Vein Martin um the biggest difference between the two to
me is the lying part. That's why I give Kyrie
more credit just for keeping it real. Whether you agree
(25:49):
with his stance or not, that's up to him. And
and and I gotta be honest. I just people can
decide to do what they want. What you can't do, Martin,
is you can't yell fire in a crowded movie theater. Right.
People always say what happened to my freedom was speech? Well,
(26:12):
they're just country built or free. I can say whatever
I want. No, you can't, and know you can't. And
why is that, rob Why can't you yell fired in
a crowded movie theater because you're gonna put other people
in harm? There's a stampede and three kids get trampled
to death because there was no fire. Okay, do some homework,
(26:37):
and all of all the people research and vaccines do
the research. Freedom of speech is about speaking out against
the government and not having the police or the army
or the FBI come to your house and arrest you
because you spoke out against the president or about a
political party. Everybody else has consequences. And that's the difference
(27:03):
between these two for me, is that Kyrie didn't lie
and make up some story or whatever. He said, even
want to do it. He said he wasn't against it,
but he just didn't felt like like he wanted to
do it. Aaron Rodgers lied, whatever word you want to use, miss,
misled people, stretch the truth, whatever you want. Aaron Rodgers lied.
(27:29):
He was asked point blank whether he was vaccinated, and
he didn't just say no, I'm not and I'm not
gonna be vaccinated, but I'll take all the protocols and
follow all the rules by the NFL. Martin, would the
story had been over at that point, rob There's significant
evidence that proves that it would have been, especially when
(27:50):
you look at the way that Aaron Rodgers has been
playing so far this year. And also too, there's evidence
that like Aaron Rodgers wouldn't have, even for lack of term,
been shamed for missing the game had he said he
was unvaccinated and had caught COVID. Now, sure there would
have been there would have been a few people who
would have had a vocal that's what you get type
of attitude towards it. But I think at this point
(28:13):
in time, for better for worse, we've adopted this idea
of vaccination being your personal choice, right, it's just the
idea that your personal choice doesn't exempt you from the
things that the other regular sate other regulations that you
may have to go under. It could be a personal
choice to drink alcohol, but you can't do other things
after drinking alcohol. There's gonna be there's going to if
(28:35):
you are caught, there's going to be some consequences for
that action, right, Like you, freedom of speech is particularly
for the government. Right, So like people like you and
me or anybody can speak out against the President of
the United States or whoever we want to an elected
office and not fear repercussion of jail time or death
or something. You know. Some of the other crazy things
are that feel like crazy in the United States because
(28:55):
it's super illegal, right, but it's it's just the way
of life in other places. That is none of what
this is like. That is none of what this is.
He just lied, and instead of lying, he just continued
to instead of coming clean at any point in time,
because apparently it was a well known secret in the
NFL circles that Aaron Rodgers was not vaccinated. You see
a bunch of people coming out after the fact saying
(29:16):
I had heard it, but I couldn't really report it.
All right, whatever that's weird, But just in general, what
Kyrie did was Kyrie said he took a stance. Whether
you agree with his stance or not, he took a
stance and stood on his square, and he said, whatever
whatever comes my way, I'm not going to stand off
of my square. Aaron Rodgers did not have the bravery for,
(29:37):
in my opinion, to stand on his square, Like, have
the courage of your conviction. If you don't want to
get this shot, you want to have a conversation about it,
then tell us why you're not Like, tell us in
the moment, why you're not getting it. Tell us right
then and there, why you're not getting in. How it's
not going to affect your life because you're not getting in.
How we're gonna see you do everything we saw you
do for the first nine weeks of the season without
(29:58):
the COVID vaccine. I mean, do you want to argument that.
Would that not be the best argument possible? Would that
not be the best argument possible to to to realize
his position? Like, it doesn't make any sense to me,
And the reason why it doesn't make any sense to
me He says Aaron Rodgers was scared of blowback and
he set up on Pat McAfee all day and night
and talk about it. He doesn't he didn't read this,
he didn't see that, he didn't hear that. Plus clipping, well,
(30:20):
I know Shalley Woodley's fiance, sure that saw people talking
about him today because I see you can't miss those posts,
right you. Kyrie really seems at peace with this, whereas
Aaron Rodgers just got caught, right, and he got caught,
and when you get caught, you kind of like start
to squirm around. And that's why I came back with
the you know, I mislead people. He had to own it.
(30:41):
Just own it. He could have owned it the first
time Martin, the first appearance on McAfee's show. Just own it.
No I missed. I didn't want to make a big deal.
I don't want to say I lied about it and
I wasn't vaccinated. It came back to bite me. People
can buy into that. And here's the other thing. I
just like to throw this out because for people, just
(31:03):
so that you can get a sense of where people are.
You know, Fox News Martin has quietly implemented its own
version of the vaccine mandate right for its employees. Sure,
but on the air, what are they talking about? Now?
This is what I'm This is what I'm trying to
tell you. That people are saying one thing, doing other things,
(31:26):
and then in this story Aaron Rodgers is saying one
thing and doing another. I mean, it's all over the place.
And people can say they want to do what's right
for them, which they have a right to do. I'll
never tread on that. But you can't lie to other
people the same rights you're talking about, Martin, that people want.
(31:51):
The other people who you work with want the same rights,
don't they. I mean, I want to be an environment
where I'm gonna feel safe to go to work. It's
it's like with anything, like like any type of situation
that you have, like especially things that are regulated. You know,
the first one that popped in my hands, first one
that popped in my head is guns. Right, depending on
(32:11):
where you are in the country, you're right to own
a firearm is completely different. However, depending on where you
are in the country, the laws governing those firearms are
are going to be completely different. You're not just because
you have a gun in text, it don't mean you
can bring it to California, right, just because you have
a gun in California, you can bring it to Washington State.
Give you the best one. Flats of Ico Boris had
(32:33):
a gun registered in Florida? Was it registered in New York?
Martin No, what happened to him? I mean with the jail,
that's what happens, especially is New York State, with the
with the laws, went to jail for like two years.
His gun was registered in Florida though, And it's just
(32:56):
things like that, like it's you have rules for a reason,
and depending on why, like whether you want to challenge
the rule. And that's the way that Aaron Rodgers presented
himself right in that moment, Like if the plaques going
to challenge the gun laws in New York, the time
is not right after you've got yourself and got caught
with a gun. That's not the time. The time is
(33:17):
not the challenge the NFL's COVID policies. And it's on
August twenty sixth when they ask you if you're vaccinated,
not on November whatever, when you come down with COVID.
And we all realized, wait a second, Aaron Rodgers should
only have to take new two negative tests because he's
been running around with no mask all time. He's been
doing this and doing that. He's clearly vaccinated, right, Oh,
turns out he's we gotta wait ten days because he's unvaccinated,
(33:39):
has been breaking every rule visibly. Who knows what they
were doing inside closed doors? Well, the NFL conducted their
investigation find him like what thirty three hundred thousand dollars,
So that's a rule. You know, that's significant, But it's
just it's just so disingenuous to me. The idea, especially
like quoting Martin Luther King and all this and that,
like Kyrie says he wants to be voice for the voiceless. Okay, cool,
(34:01):
I get it, because you actually went out there and
said something like, do I agree that these people are voiceless?
Not necessarily? Do I agree that Karr's the best voice
for him? Not necessarily, but at least he's walking what
he was talking, right, and everybody knows. Everybody knows where
he stands, and there's no miscommunication or question about it.
And he didn't do it, and he decided to heal
(34:24):
miss the season, and then that's will roll on. People
have to understand that things move on with or without.
I know everybody believes that, like things won't go on,
everything goes on. It's it's kind of humbling Martin, when
you realize a lot of great people have come and
gone through a lot of these companies and businesses and
TV shows and radio show. Guess what, they still keep rolling.
(34:45):
That's just how it is. Doesn't matter
Thanks for listening to the best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
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(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the best of the Odd
Couple with Chris Brusso and Rod Harker. All right, Martin,
let's get there. Aaron Rodgers, his weekly interview with Pat
McAfee happened today and made a little bit of news
(00:42):
by basically owning up a little bit to what he
said last week. And you know, I mean, he didn't
fully apologize or admit that he lied. He said he
misled people. I think he flat out lied. He was
asked a direct question, was he vaccinated? The answer was
either yes or no, and he said he was immunized,
(01:03):
but he was not vaccinated. So he finally spoke up
for that, and and but he still stood by his
statements and his comments. And I'm gonna start here, Martin.
As much as there's a lot of people out there,
not only do they admire Aaron Rodgers as a quarterback
(01:24):
and his ability. I think he's the best quarterback. I'm
talking about skill set, not accomplishments. Skill set that I've
ever seen. He's got touched. He could throw the ball far, long, far,
he can avoid pressure, he can run for first down,
his pinpoint accuracy, he doesn't turn the ball over, seldom
(01:46):
does he throw interceptions. He's just he does everything you
would love to see a quarterback too. And with that,
there's a lot of people who admire him and look
at him as a role model. Whether he wants to
be or not, there are and whether they should or not. Honestly,
it's just the nature of the business that he's in. Absolutely,
(02:07):
you know, you don't get to say, well, I don't
want to be a role mode. That's not how it works.
And I read a piece written by Kareem Abdul Jabbar today.
Did you see that piece, Martin? I did. It was
well done by Kareem, just well done, well laid out,
and he talked about the responsibility of being a role model,
and and people look up to you and Aaron has
(02:29):
it twisted. It's okay to just want to be your
own man and say I don't want to do this.
I just I don't feel good about it. Whatever, whatever
your reason, I just don't want to do it. I
think if you say that and you move on, people
can accept it and you don't sound crazy and you're
not putting out misinformation. But what people have a problem
(02:50):
with is when you're one of those people and somebody
who people looked up to, when you lie straight to
people's face, it's hard for people to look at you
at any other time down the road and take you
at face value. And that's just Is Martin. And that's
really what the crux of the matter is. Right Because
(03:11):
Aaron Rodgers on the first day he went on McAfee,
I believe it was Friday, coming out after he came
out with after it came out that he had caught
COVID and and all that, he goes out and says
one of the last things he says in his forty
five minute residency on this show, he goes, this needs
to be a conversation, not a controversy. Well, the fact
(03:31):
of the matter is, Aaron, you've missed the boat for
it to be a conversation. Because we've had these conversations
about several players. We had it about Kirk Cousins. We
had in our Carson Wentz. We had it about Lamar
Jackson twice, rob because he caught COVID twice. Has anybody
has has he been uh canceled by cancel culture or
the woke mob that they come for him. No, apparently
(03:53):
the woke mob has missed out with the cancel culture
nails for Lamar Jackson's coffin, because he's only depending on
where you look at the front runner or second runner
run for NFL MVP right now, Hello, hello, exactly. And
that's the biggest thing. Aaron Rodgers took advantage of a
situation in which you have a whole bunch of reporters
who are asking these questions whether or not I'm not
(04:14):
even sure if they were in person in that moment
in time, because of the way of the world that
we live in with COVID and so on and so forth,
like they had to wear masks, had to be separated
social distance, so on and so forth. Somebody asked you
if you're vaccinated, and you respond with I'm immunized, and
then knowing that the pushback has come back with well,
is that a hip of violation is that of this
is that of this is I don't feel comfortable answering
(04:35):
that people are gonna go ahead and take that at
face value. But the deeper thing about all of it,
what we assumed that he was vaccinated. I didn't even
need to hear the press conference, whether or not the
press conference at the court or not. I'm looking at
his actions on the sidelines of when I'm watching the television,
when I'm watching the games, I'm seeing him in the
(04:55):
practice that they shoot from Green Brand and send back
to the different television networks to descemb throughout the throughout
the country. He's not doing the things that you said
you're supposed to be doing if you're if you're unvaccinated
or under That's why controversy. That is the controversy. It's
not that you're unvaccinated, Aaron Rodgers. There's not that you
have your own vaccination protocols or immunization protocols, or you
(05:18):
want to go talk to Joe Rogan or whoever and
take iver mecton and who knew knows what. That's not
the problem, It's really not. It's the problem is that
you hit it from everybody right, and you didn't allow
those reporters in the press conference to even have a
chance Martin to be like, wait a minute, you got it.
We need a mask, or we need to do zoom,
(05:39):
or we need to be you know what I mean, Like,
if you're not vaccinated, you don't know what and you
could say your teammates and all those people knew. Many
people did not know that. That's the problem. Everybody didn't know.
Everybody wasn't in the locker room. And then for you
to do that stuff. And so let's let's take a
listen of what Aaron Rodgers said today where he kind
(06:02):
of apologized, but you know, like at least acknowledged I
should say some wrongdoing what he what he stood by
what he said earlier. Look, I shared an opinion that
is polarizing. I get it, and I misled some people
about my status, which I take full responsibility of it.
But in the end, I have to stay true to
(06:23):
who I am and what I'm about, and I stand
behind the things that I said, and I, you know,
have a ton of empathy for people who have been
going through the worst part of this pandemic, which has
affected all of us in different ways. But so many people,
you know, like I said with lives that were lost,
lives that were forever changed, and I have a ton
of compassion empathy for those people, and I've tried to
(06:46):
help out, you know, as much as I can. The
other stuff is so out of my control. And there's
gonna be people that don't like you, and they don't
don't and h it for things you said, or might
not even understand what you said or know what you said.
It might just see know a headline. And that's fine.
I believe that people are inside of their opinion and
even its opinion that's unfavorable with me. But I'm going
(07:07):
to continue to try and be the best version of
me moving forward. And I'm excited about getting back on
the field as soon as possible. And there it is.
I mean, I just even Kyrie. Kyrie was up front, right,
and he didn't want to do it. Okay, you stay home.
The Nets didn't want any part of a part time player,
(07:29):
right Martin. That's it. I mean, here's the thing I
don't In this country. You can pretty much do and
say whatever you want within reason, especially if it's only
going to affect you, right, that can't have misinformation to
the masses. But but what you can't do is expect
that your actions come without lack of actions do not
come with lack of consequence, right, Like, you don't get
(07:51):
to just do whatever you want at carte blanche and
not expect the other things to come down to you.
Like Kyrie Irving, he does not want to get the vaccine. Okay, Well,
you know what, he didn't have a problem with. All
the other things that came with it are the problem,
or rather, the other things that came with him not
taking the vaccine did not outweigh his unwillingness to get it. Right,
the other the other negatives him going and him to
(08:13):
have him not playing basketball this year, or him maybe
only playing on the road, or him maybe playing in
the officer game. We'll talk about that and a little bit.
It's all none of those consequences impacted Kyrie's decision enough
to make him change his mind. Right, So, like, but
the Aaron Rodgers think he was not willing to take
the consequences of his actions and reality and the idea
(08:34):
that you're gonna quote Martin Luther King Junior behind you know,
unjustice law, unjust law. Well, Martin Luther King Junior wrote
that letter inside of Birmingham jail. He wrote it literally
suffering the consequences of the actions that he chose because
he felt that the laws were unjust. Aaron Rodgers did
(08:54):
none of that. And he's just disingenuous to make him
out to anybody but a liar at this point in time.
Great court back, absolutely one of the best, first ballot
Hall of Famer, Absolutely, absolutely honestly a liar at this
moment in time. No, I there's no other word. I
don't I don't even know what else you could say.
And and uh, you know the what was it? The
health company in Wisconsin dropped him because because it's a
(09:17):
conflict of interest. Right then they had for people's wellness.
How can they have one of the spokesmen talking about,
you know, giving misinformation about about COVID and about the vaccine.
You could say you don't want to take it, and
and and this is the other thing too, you know
with McAfee that like he's not a reporter, he's not
(09:37):
gonna ask follow ups Martin, he's not gonna press press
Aaron Rodgers to explain when you say you're allergic to whatever. Okay,
so you talk to the doctor, did he say what
doctor told you you couldn't take it, and what exactly
are you allergic to? No, I mean, and I want
to make that fair criticism. But the part of the
problem that I have is with this whole COVID situation
(10:00):
that people are dancing on X shows around it and
saying his personal responsibility. The actual reporters in the room
didn't feel like they needed to follow up. It's not
about like Aaron Rodgers gave the impression with his answer
that was not there. But but but I understand, I
understand what you're saying. But I'm just having trust because
we could have figured this out on August twenty six. No,
because you couldn't have because by his answer, even when
(10:24):
he said there are players or whatever who aren't who
who I'm not gonna pass judgment for because they haven't
done it or they like, he made the thing that
those are other people who are unvaccinated and I'm not
gonna pass judgment against them. So that's why there's no
follow up to that. If you listen to the sound bite,
(10:45):
he clearly puts himself not in the not in the
party of the unvaccinated because he said he wasn't gonna
pass judgment on those people who decided not to do it.
That doesn't sound like, well I'm in that group, So
so from I don't blame reporters that day Martin for
not following up and asking him again because he was
(11:07):
asked a direct question. Go back and listen to that sound.
And I don't think it's an anybody's fought him for
not following them up either. My only my only point
in saying that, you know, not killing Pat McAfee for
not being they tried and true Big Jay Journals follow
ups is Aaron Rodgers has shown a propensity to not
answer the question regardless. I get it, but but but
(11:28):
but it just to allow a guy just to talk
and not explain himself thoroughly is as a job of
an interviewer. Okay, you might not have gone to j school, Martin,
but but you got you don't You don't do a
good job for to listen up. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Brussar and
(11:48):
Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart Radio app. I'm
George Reister, host of the Reister or Wrong hidcast. This
is the intersection where sports, business, society, and pop culture
meet the truth, absolute fire on Monday's, Wednesdays and Fridays.
(12:11):
Facts only. Make sure you check your feelings at the door,
because nobs is allowed. We keep it one hundred. This
is where real conversations happen. Listen to the Rights Are
Wrong podcasts on the iHeartRadio, Apple Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts. And if you checked out my
(12:33):
trash talking on dead Spin today, you can look it
up on my social media as well. I trashed the
idea that the NBA didn't figure it out so that
Kyrie Irvin shouldn't be on the All Star ballot, and
only from the standpoint that he will probably not play
a game, and he will probably. I think there'll be
(12:58):
some sort of drive or move men from the people
who are Kyrie supporters for the unvaccinated and all that
this will become again a political not political, but it'll
become like a movement that has nothing to do with basketball.
It'll be about people who just don't want to follow
(13:19):
the masses and try to get this vaccine behind us.
They we'll just say we don't want to be vaccinated.
And Kyrie standing up for us, so we're gonna vote
for him to be on the All Star team. And
I don't think it's right. I think the All Star
team is supposed to be about the best players through
the first half of that NBA season, and if Kyrie
(13:40):
was playing, more power to him. But I think there'll
be somebody an All Star, a guard, a point guard
out of positions, don't really matter who won't be on
that team because people will vote for Kyrie, who hadn't
played all year, to play in the All Star Game,
and it will become a spectacle, and the attention of
(14:02):
the players who play in the league, who are supposed
to cherish that moment of an All Star Game, will
be turned into a political pig skin so that people
can kick it around and say, ah, look at the NBA.
They wouldn't let Kyrie play. The people are spoken, and
they voted for Kyrie to start for the Eastern Conference.
(14:24):
He's in the game. He hadn't played a minute all year.
Is that what you want the All Star Game to be? No,
it doesn't make it. You have to play. I don't
see how you can be in the All Star like
it's one thing if you're debating. Note maybe ten games
or fifteen games or enough to have played, right to
have played to qualify for the All Star Game. I
(14:44):
don't think you should necessarily have like a game limit,
because again, the All Star Game is for fans, right,
So like, if a guy like Jannis, for example, just
happen to see him on TV, I wish him nothing
but the best. But let's say, like right now, he
gets hurt, and then two days before the All Star
Game he's cleared to play, and he can play the
All Star Game. Then then the question is does Milwaukee
wanted him to play? But absolutely I do, like as
(15:05):
a fan of the game, I want to see him
out there. But like you have to, Like, again, we
were talking about this with Aaron Rodgers, there has to
be some consequences for your actions, and this is the
consequence that Kyrie said, I'm good with. I don't want
to play basketball if it means I have to get vaccinated.
That that means I don't want to play regular season basketball.
I don't want to play basketball in Brooklyn. I don't
want to play basketball and Indiana or Philadelphia, or are
(15:26):
Los Angeles or any of the other road places I'd
go play basketball, and it's not gonna be in the
All Star Game either, because those are those are just
the rules. Like I don't understand what the what the
question would be as to why he is on the
Why I don't even say when White's on the ball
in the first place. Right, Well, because the only people
and you know I read this story, the only people
(15:48):
who are are barred as if you're like suspended or
you know what I mean, you have some sort of legal,
uh legal issue, Martin. I mean, but this isn't this
isn't exactly the twenty twenty mid terms, Like this is
the All Star Game, and especially when you think about
how being voted for some of these things impacts people's
(16:09):
contracts and supermaxes and so on, Like he can't be
on it, he can't be an All Star this year.
It just this is what it says that basically all
players on the rosters will put on the ballot. Both
the league and team sources indicated this is from the
New York Post that because h Irving is still on
the nets official roster sent home but not suspended, he
(16:33):
won't be an exception, and despite not having played a
second for the Nets this year, and they say the
league isn't currently expected to take an unprecedented action to
star wars to stave off the possibility. Though this is, uh,
this is unprecedented, you know what I mean, Like like
(16:54):
this could wind up where the NBA has egg on
its face. Well especially too, because this is a type
of thing that I mean in general, Like when you
take away the reason why Kyrie is not playing, let's
just say, like literally he was like he was like
Ben Simmons right now, and it was taking a mental
health breaker. Wherever Ben Simmons is describing his breakaway from
(17:14):
the Philadelphia seventy six ers, neither one of those guys
who've played a minute all season, right, But the thing
about Ben Simmons is his stance is not going to
one that's going to be co opted by all types
of other people because he couldn't you see an online
movement to get Kyrie elected as an All Star starter
from people that have no interest in the game whatsoever.
(17:35):
Like this is what I'm saying. The game is gonna
be hijacked by people who don't care about the NBA.
It just feels like this is a great opportunity for
the people who when when the Milwaukee Bucks walk off
the court after Jacob Blake is shot in Wisconsin. Who say,
what about China? This is a great opportunity for everybody
who has that what about China this in their soul
(17:56):
about the NBA to be like, well, here you go,
here's some of your real medicine right back in your face.
Medicine in your face for you. Let me let me
say this. So if Irving does get voted on, okay,
if Kyrie does get on there, people could go back
to nineteen ninety two to find a similar situation. It's
(18:17):
vaguely similar. Okay. Magic Johnson was forced to retire due
to HIV Martin That was that was thirty years ago Sunday,
thirty years ago Sunday that he announced that he had
the HIV but got voted into the All Star Game
and had twenty five points nine assists in that game
(18:38):
to earn the MVP honors. I covered that game, that
All Star Game in Orlando in nineteen ninety two. Magic.
I do not look at it the same way as
Kyrie Irving situation. And currently this is the way the
league does it. Fans constitute fifty percent of the All
Star vote and the other part is split by the
(18:58):
media and the players. Let's bring in Rob. Rob g
is on that side that believes that Kywee should be
on the ballot, And do you think he should be
an All Star even if he doesn't play a minute
this season? If he gets voted in, then yeah, you know,
because the contrary to what you know, people in the
media might think the All Star Game is not for them.
(19:20):
The All Star Game is for the fans. The All
Star Game is supposed to be a showcase of your
best talent. K I agree with he hasn't played at all,
but that's not necessarily his fault because if he played
in DC, if he played in Miami, if he played
in pick your other favorite city, then he would be
on the All Star team. No, he doesn't play there
(19:43):
if he doesn't understand that, But you can't say while
the reason why Kyrie Irving is not going to be
an All Star is because he didn't get vaccinated. But
Bradley Beal, who's in the exact same situation, can be
an All Star simply because he plays in a different
home city. But it's not that he's being penalized because
he didn't get vaccinated. He's not playing. Okay, so do
(20:03):
you want to be the but he's not playing that
that's my issue is but that's Magic Johnson didn't play,
So who cares? And that Magic Johnson? Magic Johnson was
one of the all time great players who was forced
out of the game because of serious illness. And when
(20:25):
people decided that he could play, there was like a
feeling of u of like let's give magic this kind
of thing, like, uh, Flowers, so what you're from Magic
Johnson because you like him more? No, No, here's the
difference the people. This will be hijacked by non basketball people.
(20:48):
Everything that's by non sports people. Not everything. Yes, not
anything that has any kind of political or social you know,
can be tied to it in any kind of way,
has been high. Well, give me an examp. Colin Kaepernick
kneeling for the anthem and saying black Lives matter got
hijacked by a group that had nothing to do with
(21:09):
him black Lives Matter. The group had nothing to do
with what Colin Kaepernick was kneeling for. No. But but
the point is I'm talking about you have a showcase
game that will turn into a circus and take away
the attention of the sport of the league by a
guy who hadn't played all year. I think it's very awkward.
(21:31):
It doesn't feel right, and and that's the problem I have,
and somebody will be left off who deserve who played
during the year. I think Magic and Martin used the
right term. He was forced out and this was like
an appreciation decided. But at that time, thirty years ago,
people didn't know. Thirty years ago he could. He didn't
(21:53):
know that much about let him play with HIV. So yes, okay,
people maybe buying months after gether here, Like he might
have been forced to retire, but it's kind of like
the same. You know, he was either gonna retire or
not gonna be like it was easy for easy. It
was much better for him to retire optically than anything else. Right, So,
like the NBA was like, all right, let's have this moment.
I'm not saying that directly, uh, the one directly followed
(22:14):
the other. But the NBA said, one of our greats,
one of our legends, is not going to be able
to play anymore. We can have this game, which overarchingly
does not matter in the grand scheme of the standings,
or we didn't even make it that exact same argument,
and just do it in the context now because one
is not one of the greatest, is not one of
(22:36):
the greatest, one of the greatest players in our league today,
one of our most marketable league today is eligible to
play because it's in a different city that does not
have the same vaccine mandate. That but but, but this
is this is where we all live in different places,
rob Ge. We understand that lay our rules here were
(22:57):
different than what they were doing in Florida and Texas.
Those are the cards. Those are the people right who
who legislate and protect and decide what's gonna be good
for the out of the people in this area or
whatever area you live in. So those are the ones
you have to either live by, or you move out
of town, you move somewhere else. To be fair and
(23:17):
also to be fair to the rest of the league.
The NBA in twenty twenty, they said that they were
going to make allowances for this type of COVID stuff
like they like the Toronto Raptors played the whole season
in Florida because there wasn't happening in Canada with the COVID,
So they made the allowances for COVID they said twenty
twenty one, that's over with. It's just the rules. It's
like saying James Harden should be an All Star because
(23:38):
he you know, normally, he would have gotten all these
foul calls and he would have made all these free
throws and he would have averaged thirty points. But he's not.
He's not there. He's like, he's just not shooting, like
Kyrie's not there. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the iHeart
Radio app. Search f SR to listen live. Let's now
(23:59):
talk about both to these guys together, all right, Aaron
Rodgers and Kyrie. And I've seen people try to say, like, oh, well,
Kyrie was demonags and Aaron Rodgers wasn't. I just don't believe.
I think Aaron Rodgers got a brunt of it from people,
so I people trying to make it like he got
(24:20):
kid gloves compared to Kyrie. I don't agree. Yeah, Now,
I don't. I see both of you catching types of
hell right now, everybody, both of them are catching all
types of hell. And honestly, I don't know what financial
realization outside of the outside of the game checks that
he's missing from missing Brooklyn home games. I don't know
what the financial implication for Kyrie has been, whereas Aaron
(24:41):
Rodgers has lost sponsors already. I don't think Kyrie's lost
any sponsors from from his stance on what sponsors other
than Nike I think, right, is that I'm just saying
he hasn't you know what I'm saying. I haven't seen
Kyrie losing this sponsor and losing that sponsor. Where have
you've seen with Aaron Rodgers? No? Absolutely, and that and
that's the point, like people are making it out like
(25:02):
like nothing happened to Aaron Rodgers. I mean you saw
the commercial load for State Farm dropped dramatically, right, I
mean they endorsed him, saying, hey, we're gonna stick with him. Uh.
But but they did make a change in the ads.
I think that that was pretty clear. And I guess
they'll wait to see what kind of, you know, pushback
they get from customers and see if people are canceling
(25:25):
policies or calling up or complaining or whatever. But but
let's let's talk about it. And this, uh, this this
Vein Martin um the biggest difference between the two to
me is the lying part. That's why I give Kyrie
more credit just for keeping it real. Whether you agree
(25:49):
with his stance or not, that's up to him. And
and and I gotta be honest. I just people can
decide to do what they want. What you can't do, Martin,
is you can't yell fire in a crowded movie theater. Right.
People always say what happened to my freedom was speech? Well,
(26:12):
they're just country built or free. I can say whatever
I want. No, you can't, and know you can't. And
why is that, rob Why can't you yell fired in
a crowded movie theater because you're gonna put other people
in harm? There's a stampede and three kids get trampled
to death because there was no fire. Okay, do some homework,
(26:37):
and all of all the people research and vaccines do
the research. Freedom of speech is about speaking out against
the government and not having the police or the army
or the FBI come to your house and arrest you
because you spoke out against the president or about a
political party. Everybody else has consequences. And that's the difference
(27:03):
between these two for me, is that Kyrie didn't lie
and make up some story or whatever. He said, even
want to do it. He said he wasn't against it,
but he just didn't felt like like he wanted to
do it. Aaron Rodgers lied, whatever word you want to use, miss,
misled people, stretch the truth, whatever you want. Aaron Rodgers lied.
(27:29):
He was asked point blank whether he was vaccinated, and
he didn't just say no, I'm not and I'm not
gonna be vaccinated, but I'll take all the protocols and
follow all the rules by the NFL. Martin, would the
story had been over at that point, rob There's significant
evidence that proves that it would have been, especially when
(27:50):
you look at the way that Aaron Rodgers has been
playing so far this year. And also too, there's evidence
that like Aaron Rodgers wouldn't have, even for lack of term,
been shamed for missing the game had he said he
was unvaccinated and had caught COVID. Now, sure there would
have been there would have been a few people who
would have had a vocal that's what you get type
of attitude towards it. But I think at this point
(28:13):
in time, for better for worse, we've adopted this idea
of vaccination being your personal choice, right, it's just the
idea that your personal choice doesn't exempt you from the
things that the other regular sate other regulations that you
may have to go under. It could be a personal
choice to drink alcohol, but you can't do other things
after drinking alcohol. There's gonna be there's going to if
(28:35):
you are caught, there's going to be some consequences for
that action, right, Like you, freedom of speech is particularly
for the government. Right, So like people like you and
me or anybody can speak out against the President of
the United States or whoever we want to an elected
office and not fear repercussion of jail time or death
or something. You know. Some of the other crazy things
are that feel like crazy in the United States because
(28:55):
it's super illegal, right, but it's it's just the way
of life in other places. That is none of what
this is like. That is none of what this is.
He just lied, and instead of lying, he just continued
to instead of coming clean at any point in time,
because apparently it was a well known secret in the
NFL circles that Aaron Rodgers was not vaccinated. You see
a bunch of people coming out after the fact saying
(29:16):
I had heard it, but I couldn't really report it.
All right, whatever that's weird, But just in general, what
Kyrie did was Kyrie said he took a stance. Whether
you agree with his stance or not, he took a
stance and stood on his square, and he said, whatever
whatever comes my way, I'm not going to stand off
of my square. Aaron Rodgers did not have the bravery for,
(29:37):
in my opinion, to stand on his square, Like, have
the courage of your conviction. If you don't want to
get this shot, you want to have a conversation about it,
then tell us why you're not Like, tell us in
the moment, why you're not getting it. Tell us right
then and there, why you're not getting in. How it's
not going to affect your life because you're not getting in.
How we're gonna see you do everything we saw you
do for the first nine weeks of the season without
(29:58):
the COVID vaccine. I mean, do you want to argument that.
Would that not be the best argument possible? Would that
not be the best argument possible to to to realize
his position? Like, it doesn't make any sense to me,
And the reason why it doesn't make any sense to
me He says Aaron Rodgers was scared of blowback and
he set up on Pat McAfee all day and night
and talk about it. He doesn't he didn't read this,
he didn't see that, he didn't hear that. Plus clipping, well,
(30:20):
I know Shalley Woodley's fiance, sure that saw people talking
about him today because I see you can't miss those posts,
right you. Kyrie really seems at peace with this, whereas
Aaron Rodgers just got caught, right, and he got caught,
and when you get caught, you kind of like start
to squirm around. And that's why I came back with
the you know, I mislead people. He had to own it.
(30:41):
Just own it. He could have owned it the first
time Martin, the first appearance on McAfee's show. Just own it.
No I missed. I didn't want to make a big deal.
I don't want to say I lied about it and
I wasn't vaccinated. It came back to bite me. People
can buy into that. And here's the other thing. I
just like to throw this out because for people, just
(31:03):
so that you can get a sense of where people are.
You know, Fox News Martin has quietly implemented its own
version of the vaccine mandate right for its employees. Sure,
but on the air, what are they talking about? Now?
This is what I'm This is what I'm trying to
tell you. That people are saying one thing, doing other things,
(31:26):
and then in this story Aaron Rodgers is saying one
thing and doing another. I mean, it's all over the place.
And people can say they want to do what's right
for them, which they have a right to do. I'll
never tread on that. But you can't lie to other
people the same rights you're talking about, Martin, that people want.
(31:51):
The other people who you work with want the same rights,
don't they. I mean, I want to be an environment
where I'm gonna feel safe to go to work. It's
it's like with anything, like like any type of situation
that you have, like especially things that are regulated. You know,
the first one that popped in my hands, first one
that popped in my head is guns. Right, depending on
(32:11):
where you are in the country, you're right to own
a firearm is completely different. However, depending on where you
are in the country, the laws governing those firearms are
are going to be completely different. You're not just because
you have a gun in text, it don't mean you
can bring it to California, right, just because you have
a gun in California, you can bring it to Washington State.
Give you the best one. Flats of Ico Boris had
(32:33):
a gun registered in Florida? Was it registered in New York?
Martin No, what happened to him? I mean with the jail,
that's what happens, especially is New York State, with the
with the laws, went to jail for like two years.
His gun was registered in Florida though, And it's just
(32:56):
things like that, like it's you have rules for a reason,
and depending on why, like whether you want to challenge
the rule. And that's the way that Aaron Rodgers presented
himself right in that moment, Like if the plaques going
to challenge the gun laws in New York, the time
is not right after you've got yourself and got caught
with a gun. That's not the time. The time is
(33:17):
not the challenge the NFL's COVID policies. And it's on
August twenty sixth when they ask you if you're vaccinated,
not on November whatever, when you come down with COVID.
And we all realized, wait a second, Aaron Rodgers should
only have to take new two negative tests because he's
been running around with no mask all time. He's been
doing this and doing that. He's clearly vaccinated, right, Oh,
turns out he's we gotta wait ten days because he's unvaccinated,
(33:39):
has been breaking every rule visibly. Who knows what they
were doing inside closed doors? Well, the NFL conducted their
investigation find him like what thirty three hundred thousand dollars,
So that's a rule. You know, that's significant, But it's
just it's just so disingenuous to me. The idea, especially
like quoting Martin Luther King and all this and that,
like Kyrie says he wants to be voice for the voiceless. Okay, cool,
(34:01):
I get it, because you actually went out there and
said something like, do I agree that these people are voiceless?
Not necessarily? Do I agree that Karr's the best voice
for him? Not necessarily, but at least he's walking what
he was talking, right, and everybody knows. Everybody knows where
he stands, and there's no miscommunication or question about it.
And he didn't do it, and he decided to heal
(34:24):
miss the season, and then that's will roll on. People
have to understand that things move on with or without.
I know everybody believes that, like things won't go on,
everything goes on. It's it's kind of humbling Martin, when
you realize a lot of great people have come and
gone through a lot of these companies and businesses and
TV shows and radio show. Guess what, they still keep rolling.
(34:45):
That's just how it is. Doesn't matter
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