‘His Problem Is I’m Not Vaccinated’: Aaron Rodgers Responds To ‘Absolute Bum’ MVP Voter

On Tuesday, Hub Arkush — Chicago sportswriter and MVP voter — told a Chicago sports radio station that he would not be voting for Aaron Rodgers as the 2021 NFL MVP. His reasons were not because there’s someone who has been more impressive on the field, but because Arkush isn’t a fan of the Green Bay Packers quarterback off of the field. 

“I don’t think you can be the biggest jerk in the league and punish your team, and your organization and your fan base the way he did and be the Most Valuable Player,” Arkush said on 670 The Score in Chicago. “Has he been the most valuable on the field? Yeah, you could make that argument, but I don’t think he is clearly that much more valuable than Jonathan Taylor or Cooper Kupp or maybe even Tom Brady. So, from where I sit, the rest of it is why he’s not gonna be my choice.”

Arkush was asked if voters were allowed to consider off-the-field issues — like a player’s vaccination status — when deciding who to vote for.

“There’s no guidelines,” Arkush said. “We are told to pick the guy who we think is most valuable to his team. And I don’t think it says anywhere, ‘strictly on the field,’ although I do think he hurt his team on the field by the way he acted off the field. They’re gonna get the No. 1 seed anyway, but what if the difference had come down to the Chiefs game, where he lied about being vaccinated, ended up not playing and they got beat? I think all these things should be considerations.” 

Arkush said that based strictly on Rodgers’ off-season behavior — Rodgers went silent as many pondered if he would ever play in a Packers uniform again — he wouldn’t be getting his MVP vote, and the issue surrounding his vaccination status was “one more log on the fire.” 

Arkush had his chance to speak Tuesday, and Rodgers was given his on Wednesday. 

“I think he’s a bum. I think he’s an absolute bum,” Rodgers said. “He doesn’t know me. I don’t know who he is, nobody knew who he was probably until yesterday’s comments. I listened to the comments, but to say he had his mind made up in the summertime, in the offseason, that I had zero chance of winning MVP … In my opinion should exclude, you know, future votes. You know, his problem isn’t with me being a bad guy or the biggest jerk in the league. He doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know me, doesn’t know anything about me. I’ve never met him, I’ve never had lunch with him, I’ve never had an interview with him. His problem is I’m not vaccinated. “

“So if he wants to go on a crusade, and collude, and come up with an extra letter to put on the award just for this season, and make it the most valuable vaccinated player, then he should do that,” Rodgers continued. “But he’s a bum.” 

.@AaronRodgers12 opened about the comments reporter @Hub_Arkush made: “I think he’s a bum. I think he’s an absolute bum.”

“His problem with me is that I’m not vaccinated.”pic.twitter.com/h9XURmZgFE

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 5, 2022

Rodgers is the odds-on favorite to be the 2021 NFL MVP, which would be his second in a row and the fourth of his career. If selected, Rodgers would be the first repeat winner of the award since Peyton Manning did it in 2008 and 2009. 

Rodgers has his Packers heading into the final week of the season first in the NFC, with a 13-3 record. In Sunday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay locked up the top seed in the conference, giving Rodgers a bye week and home field throughout the playoffs. 

His numbers are ridiculous, throwing for 3,977 yards and 35 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He has a quarterback rating of 111. 

It’s been a tumultuous year for Rodgers, who aired his frustrations with the Packers organization following months of uncertainty in the offseason.  In November, Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19, informing the world that he was unvaccinated. He was hammered in the media for “misleading” the public regarding his vaccination status, after telling reporters in August that he was “immunized” against the virus.

On Wednesday, Arkush once again joined 670 The Score, saying he made a “big mistake” in speaking on who he plans to vote for. 

“I made a big mistake,” Arkush said on Wednesday. “As far as what happened last night, it’s on me. I screwed up.”

“The only thing they really ask us is to not tell people who we voted for until the award is presented. What they really mean is just don’t talk about it, and the reason, in part, is because of exactly what’s happened here,” he added. “I feel awful about it and

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