Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers calls out ESPN directly for Mike Vrabel, Dianna Russini coverage in the perfect way he could
Aaron Rodgers brought the heat during the Steelers’ first padded practice on Monday, and he carried that energy over to his appearance on the Pat McAfee show, where the Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel scandal took center stage.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were back on the practice field after their Sunday break, and for the first time all camp, they were in pads. We were there live and made plenty of observations, including at the quarterback position, though those largely were tied to Drew Allar.
What happened after the final horn was blown, well, that was all Aaron Rodgers. With the Pat McAfee show in attendance for the first day of pads, Rodgers changed out of his uniform, but he left the practice-level intensity on, bringing up a variety of topics, including the Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel scandal.
Steelers 2026 training camp key dates
- Monday, August 3, first day of pads.
- Saturday, August 8, Saturday night lights.
- Thursday, August 13, first preseason game.
Aaron Rodgers calls out ESPN’s coverage of Mike Vrabel, Dianna Russini
“There was another scandal this offseason, too, involving a voter for MVP, for coach of the year,” Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show. “How much time did your network spend on that?”
“Like, you have literally an individual that maybe used to work at ESPN that covers our league at the highest level, and there’s a major scandal, and it’s just, like, nobody can fucking talk about it,” Rodgers said. “What are we even doing here? . . . [I]f it’s affecting certain things, if there’s leaks going on, if there’s tampering going on, if that person is also an MVP voter and a coach of the year voter.”
Why did Aaron Rodgers call out ESPN?
The truth is that very few media outlets covered the scandal with what Rodgers would probably view as thorough analysis; he was just on ESPN and decided to out them, later saying they lack integrity and that they are “gutless.”
But the reason the story was relatively swept under the rug is that the insiders are the mediators of information, and this was one of them that had been compromised. That’s not insulting that other insiders or even reporters do something similar, but it was too close a peek behind the curtain into how the sasuage is made for other journalists, or at least those at big networks.
ESPN’s absorption of NFL Network also plays a role, as the network would never cover one of their coaches having an affair with a reporter, and that carried over to the worldwide leader.
The bottom line
Rodgers is always good for a quote when he goes on the Pat McAfee show, but it appears he had something he wanted to get off his chest on Monday, and he had the time and platform to do it, even if part of that platform was ironic.
