Charlotte Wilder, cohost of the “Sports Gossip Podcast,” called out Aaron Rodgers as the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback continues to court controversy.
“This is, once again, the Aaron Rodgers playbook of saying, ‘How dare you care or interfere with or be curious about my personal life,’ and then telling you little breadcrumbs about his personal life and daring you to talk about it or follow up on it,” Wilder, 37, said on the Tuesday, August 4 episode of the podcast. “It’s so transparent. It’s so obvious that this is what he does now.”
Rodgers, 42, made a contentious appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show on Monday, August 3, when he ranted about Dr. Anthony Fauci and called out the network for focusing on his personal life instead of the scandal involving New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
Wilder pushed back at Rodgers’ previous assertion that once he retires from the NFL – which will likely happen after the upcoming season – he will also step away from the public eye.
“I think it shows how hypocritical he is,” she argued. “I think it shows how he’s also an unreliable narrator, we can’t really believe anything he says about himself. It’s almost to the point where when he says he’s not going to start a podcast, I’m pretty sure that means he’s gonna start a podcast. I’m pretty sure he’s gonna take meetings with ESPN when he’s done playing.”
Wilder added, “I think this is all a part of his desperate desire to be relevant constantly all the time. I don’t believe him that he’s going to go gently into that good night.”
“Sports Gossip Podcast” cohost Madeline Hill doubled down on Wilder’s criticism, saying Rodgers’ recent antics show “how desperate he is to be seen and liked by football fans.”
Despite his repeated requests for privacy, Rodgers recently took to social media to post about reconciling with his parents, Ed and Darla, and his brother Luke after years of family turmoil.
“There’s been a lot of conversation about it outside of my own conversations for so many years,” Rodgers told NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt on Saturday, August 1. “You know, a big part of it was getting married and having those conversations with my wife that allowed me to kind of open up to the possibility of coming together — it’s been a couple-year process now, the conversations with [my family].”
Rodgers got married to his wife, Brittani, last year, though he has not publicly disclosed her identity.
