Aaron Rodgers blasts NFL reporter over MVP voting controversy

A controversy concerning voting for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers for MVP arose on Tuesday, and Rodgers has broken his silence on the topic.

“I think he’s a bum. I think he’s an absolute bum,” Rodgers said, per Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “He doesn’t know me. I don’t know who he is, nobody probably knew who he was until yesterday’s comments.”

Aaron Rodgers on the voter who said he wouldn’t vote for him for the AP MVP award because he’s “the biggest jerk in the league” & punished his team, organization & fans. #Packers have the best record in the NFL & NFC’s No. 1 seed. pic.twitter.com/XGR8EeGsiz

— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) January 5, 2022

The feud began after long-time Chicago Bears reporter Hub Arkush said he refused to vote for the Green Bay signal caller for MVP, calling him a “jerk” and a “bad guy.”

“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. Do I think he’s gonna win it? Probably. A lot of voters don’t approach it the way I do, but others do, who I’ve spoken to. But one of the ways we get to keep being voters is we’re not allowed to say who we are voting for until after the award has been announced. I’m probably pushing the envelope by saying who I’m not voting for. But we’re not really supposed to reveal our votes.”

The reveal of his reasoning, combined with the knowledge that voters aren’t supposed to discuss their votes publicly, has led many to believe that Arkush’s personal bias is impacting his vote. Arkush combats that line of thinking by saying that personal reasons are a fair criteria for MVP voters.

“There’s no guidelines,” Arkush said about the voting process. “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.

“I can guarantee you I will not be the only one not voting for him. I just think that the way he’s carried himself is inappropriate. I think he’s a bad guy, and I don’t think a bad guy can be the most valuable guy at the same time.”

On3’s Austin Brezina contributed to this report.