Aaron Rodgers is happy to leave Ireland with a win. He’s not happy with how his comments about when the team arrived were framed. Expressing to reporters earlier this week an ideal desire to arrive in Dublin earlier than the team’s Friday morning flight, Rodgers took ESPN to task for a recent article.
“ESPN wrote a clickbait headline, I think, taking my words outta context,” Rodgers said via the team website. “Which isn’t the first time. But I was answering a question about my desire. All three times we came overseas was to come early in the week. Especially if you have a bye week afterwards.
“Some of that is out of the control of the teams, some of it might be, but I would always love to get on the time frame that you’re in time zone and get to enjoy the area a little bit more, especially with Ireland.”
The article Rodgers referred to was written by beat reporter Brooke Pryor, entitled “Irked In Ireland: QB Rodgers put off by travel plans.”
The article itself was less controversial and included Rodgers’ Friday quote about wishing the team could’ve arrived sooner. In fairness, writers like Pryor often aren’t responsible for writing the headline and it probably wasn’t her choice to frame it that way. But the headline had a clear negative slant that didn’t fully mesh with the tone of Rodgers comments. Clearly, he saw it and hadn’t forgotten even after a thrilling three-point win that, frankly, was too close for comfort.
Speaking after the Steelers improved to 3-1, Rodgers reiterated his stance was merely a personal preference and nothing he held against the team.
“Just hearing about the country and what it’s like and being able to see some stuff would’ve been great,” he said. “That is obviously not the focus, it’s a business trip, we understand that.”
There’s some debate over the Steelers’ decision to leave late in the week. The PPG’s Gerry Dulac initially shared the NFL blocked the team’s plans to leave early in the week. The league refuted that, noting teams make their own travel schedule. Owner Art Rooney II called it a “football” and “joint” decision with the league to leave Pittsburgh Thursday night and arrive in Dublin Friday morning.
The good news is that none of it matters. The Steelers’ 2013 London trip jet lag didn’t follow them this time. Pittsburgh came out hot and dominated the first 50 minutes before nearly giving the game away. But the team held on to win with its best overall performance of the season. Rodgers and the offense were efficient while the defense created splash plays and sealed the victory. Rodgers and company would’ve signed up to be 3-1 at the bye and the Steelers will rest before starting divisional play in Week 6. Rodgers can use that time however he pleases, likely without an ESPN article delving into his thoughts. Maybe TMZ will write one instead.
