Aaron Rodgers, Like All Contrarians, is Boring

The Jets released the embattled quarterback/conspiracy theorist. What now?

Do you want to know what I have realized in the twenty-nine years of living? No amount of hits on social media can make contrarianism any less boring. A considerable amount of energy has been given to the men who see bland opposition as a kindred spirit, but those men don’t actually shift culture anymore. Besides a very niche group of people, most folks roll their eyes in exhaustion at the contrarian man, who’s liable to scream into a huge void of nothing. Holding onto their past accomplishments, which dissipates because everything comes to an end, they dash to a state of contrarian — which does not subvert the power structure; if anything, the “fake news” that clouds many contrarian point of views increases the state’s power. They’re a vessel for the boredom of the news cycle; they’re generally made of white men, and Kanye West. Right now, because he possibly wakes up wishing he was a white man who could start a genocide, Mr. West is selling t-shirts with a Nazi symbol on it; it had led him to fight with Lyor Cohen on social media. There’s now a fake A.I. video dedicated to combating Kanye’s grotesque anti-semitism. It’s all cynical. Cohen is not without his issues, controversies, and poignant criticisms; plenty of hip-hop legends have credibly accused him of being a “culture vulture” for putting rappers in bad record deals. West is a fully formed anti-semite. There’s a distrust and an aspiration in the hip-hop community and the Jewish community, and Cohen and West have definitely contributed to both the distrust. Mr. West just ignited more divisiveness for the sake of attention. Contrarianism, the division and self-righteousness it causes, is boring; it’s also exhausting.

This is, as most things are, about Aaron Rodgers, who the Jets have now asked not to come back. “Last week, we met with Aaron Rodgers and shared that our intention was to move in a different direction at quarterback”, said head coach Aaron Glenn and GM Darren Mougey in a joint statement. "It was important to have this discussion now to provide clarity and enable each of us the proper time to plan for our respective futures. We want to thank him for the leadership, passion, and dedication he brought to the organization and wish him success moving forward." This comes as a surprise to some: Rodgers is a big name quarterback, and while he is now at the mid-life crisis age of 41, there aren’t many organizations as celebrity-hungry as the Jets are. They have no qualms about making the big splash that catapults them into the sporting news. The Jets share a stadium with the Giants, who are also struggling to find their footing after the Eli Manning era. The Jets are the little brother of the tri-state football teams; they would prefer to be famous.

Fame hasn’t stopped Rodgers from being chaotic. Even the details surrounding the Aaron Rodgers era started wobbly. Firstly, the trade took a month to complete when it was announced that the Jets were interested; by the time he was officially dealt, people were tired of hearing it. It went without much fanfare from anyone not in Wisconsin or the tri-state area. Secondly, all the sitings of him in New York, enjoying life as a New Yorker, could not take away from the visits to Pat McAfee’s show to talk about his distrust of vaccines. It was his safe space to be a freak. “I’ve been immunized”, he said in an interview when he was on the Packers. He announced his support for RFK Jr; he considers himself, laughably, a free thinker. This era, where Rodgers would also reportedly raise questions about the legitimacy of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, came as a slight shock, although previous situations in Rodgers’s life might have been glossed over when discussing his overall persona. Personal lives are what they are: personal. But, Since 2016, Rodgers has been estranged from his family. It’s like he is searching for a family to be a part of. If you told me that he was joining Scientology before next season starts, I wouldn’t be surprised. He was considered likable before these PR disasters. Perhaps as he got older, with the pain of being forty on his heels, he started chasing a certain intellectual freedom that is not freedom at all — unfortunately, to the detriment of everyone else.

Then, the injury happened. The Jets, usually cursed, added another event to their tortured history. Rodgers took a step back to the pass in the first drive of the game — his fourth snap — and in the process of trying to get away from a sack, he tore his achilles. I told my cousin, a longtime Jets fan, that this was new evidence of a curse that has absolutely struck like a bolt of lightning on a wet night. The Jets had a funky roster — Garrett Wilson is probably not a number one receiver — but with a healthy Rodgers they had a chance to make it to the playoffs. (You can argue Rodgers, despite his one season, is the greatest quarterback to ever play there. They’ve had some rough quarterbacks). The season was quickly lost. Despite that, Rodgers kept talking, kept hovering over the news. Because he has an underdeveloped sense of nuance, he continued to punch up at the liberal dogma that he believed existed in this country. After a while, the trips on McAfee’s show, or the callouts of Dr. Fauci were annoying. Who cares? Get your ass behind the center, snap the ball, and make the Jets fans that are in my family happier with their daily lives.

Contrarianism exists on two levels: one, as a form of narcissism — as if you have the answers to an issue that people have dedicated their lives to talking about, and two, as a certain tool of the power structure. You can just “ask questions” about trans identity, D.E.I. programs, affirmative action, Palestinian lives, the Holocaust, so the white power structure — Donald Trump gets away with saying things that Joe Rogan and Theo Von won’t push back on — can roam free without resistance. It is fake. It’s cyclical. It always happens. It’s boring. To see a contrarian is to see a republican that is too proud to call himself one. To see a free thinker is to see someone who is likely to be influenced by the power structure. Trump, and other republicans, prey on people by telling them that they can’t trust anyone but themselves, because selfishness, and an avoidance of other's hopes, dreams, and identities is how fascism happens. Rodgers, obviously, is mostly just a football player that has fallen on the wrong path, but he said he was voting for RFK Jr, someone who is now working under an administration full of aspiring Nazi’s. Kanye West is a rapper, and his ability to shape culture has dwindled in the past ten years (he’s now “out of his moment” as he once astutely said), but his buddy is a fascist who made a Nazi salute and was given a pass by the ADL. It’s dangerous. These dudes lie to the public; they act like mavericks but they’re just following the blueprint of previous regimes. It’s, as I keep saying, boring.

Rodgers is a step, or several steps, slower than he was in his prime. Part of what made his skillset so devastating for defenses was his ability to roam outside of the pocket comfortably. His arm is still good, and he’s always been excellent at being turnover-free. But, his achilles tear has made him slightly stiff. That minor slippage is enough for defenses to fare better against him than they ever did. The Jets weren’t very well-coached because Nathaniel Hackett is a Rodgers lackey; not even having his friend Davante Adams made much of a difference. He ranked neat the bottom in passing efficiency. By letting him go, and starting over, the Jets are making a solid decision here. I can see the argument for letting him stay one more season: he could be a good bridge to a rookie next season, and he still has something left on his arm. But, he was a nuisance; a distraction. New coach Aaron Glenn comes from the mold of Bill Parcells. He might not want to deal with the hoopla that comes with Rodgers because of his dwindling athleticism. A fresh start seemed needed.

As I am writing this, I just saw that Kanye West might be getting another divorce. Perhaps Bianca, his wife, is tired of the aspiring fascist. He, like Aaron Rodgers, is a boring man because all the contrarians have left is their ability to shock, which actually isn’t shocking at all. Creation is based on inclusivity, and contrarianism is isolation. Maybe for the good of all of us, Rodgers will remember that he’s not an intellectual; quarterbacks are at their best when they throw the ball downfield to their receivers.