Sidelined quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been received the Jets' "Most Inspirational Player" award, as voted on by the other players. "I've said it a million times: He loves his teammates, and his teammates love him. He's so intentional with how he approaches everybody in the building. He's very thoughtful in the way he does things, and he's a tremendous human. Aaron is really well deserving of this award," head coach Robert Salah said.
Not only is Rodgers seen as an "ideal" teammate, but his expedited return from a torn Achilles served as motivation for the rest of the team. While Rodgers would ultimately admit he was not ready to play again, his return to practice just two-and-a-half months after undergoing surgery to repair his torn Achilles was nothing short of miraculous. Despite this, Rodgers maintained that he would return to play for the team if they were still playoff contenders.
Aaron Rodgers Goes After Jimmy Kimmel
However, not everyone loves Rodgers. Jimmy Kimmel has warned Rodgers that he could pursue legal action against the sidelined quarterback after Rodgers made comments tying Kimmel to Jeffrey Epstein. During his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers specifically named Kimmel as someone who "doesn't want" a now-partially list of names previously redacted in a civil suit filed before Epstein's death to be made public. The purported list contains around 150 names of people allegedly associated with Epstein and his sex crimes. However, it was not a comment that Kimmel took lightly.
“For the record, I’ve not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any ‘list’ other than the clearly-phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can’t seem to distinguish from reality. Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court," Kimmel wrote on X. Neither Rodgers nor ESPN have commented on the quarterback's claims. However, Pat McAfee did offer an apology the day after Rodgers' comments.
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