This year I haven’t been asked about LeRoy Butler making the NFL’s Pro Football Hall of Fame (rightly, long overdue) or the Packers being Super Bowl contenders for the second year in a row. I wasn’t even asked about Aaron Rodgers being the reigning MVP with odds on a second one (which he did eventually win). 

No, instead this year I was asked about the Green Bay Packer QB’s stance on vaccines, his TOE-VID, and 19 memes about his Jeopardy hosting. Now add another one to this list…

“Did you hear that Aaron Rodgers and Shailene Woodley called off their engagement?”

Yes, I saw that on Twitter. No, I don’t know what happened. Can someone please ask me about LeRoy Butler?

Well since you brought it up — LeRoy Butler was one of the most important players on the Packers ‘90s era team along with first-ballot Hall of Famers Brett Favre and Reggie White. Should a player make The Hall simply because they invented the greatest sports celebration in the world (the Lambeau Leap) — no. Should that not count against them — duh.

It’s not a travesty that Butler didn’t make it in on the first ballot. While even casual Packer fans of that era know his value, the more casual NFL fan or national writer might not be aware of his impact past the celebration factoid.

What became a travesty was seeing other safeties with a similar number of Super Bowl appearances, All-Pro Teams, Pro Bowl selections, and inferior stats make The Hall because of recency bias and an increase in media saturation in the 2000s NFL era (see: John Lynch, Troy Polamalu).

Thanks for asking about the @leap36 himself, but now back to Shailene Woodley:

This will come as no surprise to readers, but I don’t know Shailene Woodley. I also don’t know Aaron Rodgers outside of the numbers. Being able to recount Shailene’s IMDB catalog or Aaron’s TD number from 2020 off the top of my head (48 — should have easily been 50+ if not for a few MVS drops) is not a license to thrill with juicy rumors about their lives.

Yea, it saddens me to only get questions about the outlandish and personal bits. I’m consistently frustrated to (seemingly) have to answer for a player’s relationship with their family, vaccine status, and vaccine beliefs.

I’d rather talk about his legendary 8-to-1 TD to INT ratio, tear down the QB Wins stats with facts and blinding speed, or argue whether or not throwing to Davante Adams in double coverage with the game on the line is a sign he can’t be the GOAT because check-downs and defense (and special teams) wins Super Bowls. 

Gasp. Breathe deep. Haters owned. Fist pump.

It frustrates me to see athletes expose the deep underbelly of Twitter hate they receive after a poor performance. It absolutely fills me with joy when I see a burgeoning Twitter conversation between two teammates who apparently genuinely enjoy joking around — and I as a fan get to see that play out as a fly on the wall of the digital world’s stage.

I often wonder how David Bakhtiari and Elton Jenkins are doing with their ACL rehab. What it must be like to rehab an injury and miss an entire season of football in a career window of a decade if you’re lucky. How I’d feel to be Henry Black, Kevin King, or [redacted] (a long-snapper) in the last two off-seasons. Someone on the bubble, someone up for a contract, someone with the next chapter so close to being turned over for them.

I genuinely hope the best for every Packer player that walks through the doors in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Even those only here for a cup of coffee — Vince Young, Martellus Bennett — who were starting over or stirring up controversy. Latter, former, something something.

And that goes for all the players’ family, friends, and partners — including Shailene — can I call you Shailene now or is Ms. Woodley more appropriate?

Shailene, I hope you’re well, I hope Aaron is well, and I don’t need to know what happened.

Let’s all remember to Carry the G means to Carry the Grace, Carry the Goodness, and Carry the Good with you wherever you go.