DeMaurice Smith had a lot on his plate as the head of the NFL Players Association from 2009-23, and Aaron Rodgers didn’t make Smith’s job any easier.
Rodgers was public in his disapproval of the 2020 collective bargaining agreement, voting against the agreement with dissent for the 17-game season.
“The god of Cheesehead Nation was isolated and dismissive,” Smith described Rodgers in his upcoming book, “Turf Wars,” per Awful Announcing.
“He sat in the back row of the meeting room, issuing loud sighs before standing for a dramatic exit,” Smith added. “An incredible quarterback, to be sure, but an even more impressive antagonist.”
It’s not the most surprising revelation, as Rodgers isn’t necessarily a player who hides in the shadows — unless he’s on a darkness retreat — or holds back his thoughts.
And it’s not even the only time in the last month that the 41-year-old quarterback’s character has been put in question, as former professional racer Danica Patrick, Rodgers’ ex-girlfriend, called him “emotionally abusive” and said the relationship with him “wore me down to nothing.”
“In August 2021, my phone chirped with a text from Aaron Rodgers,” Smith also wrote. “‘Can you call me?’ it read. Could I not run into traffic instead?”
Rodgers stayed in headlines throughout the NFL offseason as he drew out his free agency decisio until the final days before minicamps began, ultimately signing with the Steelers.
Upon arriving in Pittsburgh, Rodgers immediately caught more attention because of his new wedding ring while there was no prior news of him getting married — and it’s since become even more of a mystery.
Rodgers isn’t the only NFL figure that Smith discussed in his upcoming book, with league commissioner Roger Goodell catching some flak too, being described as a “cold, dark void.”
Smith also took aim at polarizing Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: “If Jerry Jones saw a dollar bill on the ground, I truly believe he’d stop and pick it up.”