Aaron Rodgers has never been one to hesitate before speaking his mind. But his latest hot take on The Pat McAfee Show has drawn quite the backlash. The critics are accusing the veteran quarterback of chasing headlines rather than saying anything of substance.

“I think it shows how hypocritical he is. I think it shows how he’s also an unreliable narrator; we can’t really believe anything he says about himself,” Charlotte Wilder said on The Sports Gossip Show. “And 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 to talk about working for [them].

“I think that this is all about 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.”

Aaron Rodgers’ appearance on The Pat McAfee Show this week was about the quarterback once again going off about the 2020 pandemic and taking shots at ESPN and Disney. He called Anthony Fauci an “absolute coward” for invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times during a Congressional hearing.

Rodgers’ presence in the public eye has changed a little over time. He is in what he definitively says is his last year in the NFL. Ever since he announced his decision and signed his one-year contract with the Steelers, his comments have been measured. Rodgers also recently spoke about mending his relationship with his family after a long time of shutting them out.

Backlash isn’t the only consequence the quarterback has faced for his comments. When he shared his controversial takes on COVID-19 in 2021 (he claimed he was “immunized” against the disease), he lost his sponsorship from Prevea Health. The company had collaborated with him for nine years.

Still, in March this year, Rodgers said once his playing career ends, he’s disappearing for good.

“We’re not going to live a public life,” he said on The Pat McAfee Show. “We’re not going to now. Not in the future. Not ever. When this is done, it’s Keyser Söze. You won’t see me. I’m not doing TV. I’m not going to be out and about.”

That’s a pretty firm stance, but co-host Madeline Hill isn’t totally buying it. She thinks Rodgers keeps repeating the same pattern: he says something that turns fans off, then slowly works to win them back over.

Fair or not, Rodgers still has a way of making sure people keep talking about him.