
“He’s a bum.”
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had some choice words for MVP voter Hub Arkush during his media availability on Wednesday. Arkush, 1 of 50 voters for the Associated Press’ version of the award, made national headlines on Tuesday after a clip of him on 670 The Score’s radio show in Chicago went viral. Among other things, Arkush stated that Rodgers was a “bad guy” and stated that between his vaccination status and how Rodgers drug out his return to Green Bay this offseason, Rodgers never had a chance to win the award based on his on-field performance, in the mind of Arkush.
.@Hub_Arkush tells @DannyParkins & @MattSpiegel670 that Aaron Rodgers won’t be getting his MVP vote.
“He’s a bad guy, you know? And I don’t think a bad guy can be the most valuable guy at the same time.”
FULL CONVERSATION— https://t.co/NYlgZ8xKGi pic.twitter.com/TFLRRufbWh
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) January 4, 2022
Many objected to this notion, including former Packers cornerback Casey Hayward, who tweeted, “And we let guys like [Arkush] vote for awards and all-pros. Real flaw system. Trash stystem of picking who votes.”
And we let guys like @Hub_Arkush vote for awards and all-pros. Real flaw system. Trash stystem of picking who votes. https://t.co/CJsNEYxK57
— Casey Hayward (@show_case29) January 5, 2022
Matt Schneidman of The Athletic was the first to ask Rodgers a question on Wednesday, who immediately inquired how Rodgers took Arkush’s comments.
MS: After what you said last week about what it would mean to win your fourth MVP, what do you think of 1 of the 50 voters [Arkush] coming out and saying yesterday, “I don’t think you can be the biggest jerk in the league and punish your team and your organization and your fanbase the way he did and be the MVP. I think he’s a bad guy and I don’t think a bad guy can be the MVP at the same time.”
AR: I think he’s a bum. I think he’s an absolute bum. He doesn’t know me. I don’t know who he is. No one knew who he was, probably, until yesterday’s comments. I listened to the comments, but to say he had his mind made up in the summertime, in the offseason that I had zero chance of winning MVP, in my opinion, should exclude future votes. His problem isn’t with me being a bad guy or the biggest jerk in the league, because he doesn’t know me…he doesn’t know anything about me, I’ve never met him. I’ve never had lunch with him. I’ve never had an interview with him. His problem is I’m not vaccinated. So if he wants to go on a crusade and collude and come up with an extra letter to put on the award, just for this season, and make it the “Most Valuable Vaccinated Player,” then he should do that. He’s a bum and I’m going to waste any time worrying about that stuff. He doesn’t know what I do, who I am. He’s never talked to me in his life, but it’s unfortunate that those sentiments…it’s surprising that he would even say that, to be honest. I knew this was possible. I talked about it on McAfee a few weeks ago. Crazy.
It’s safe to say that Arkush has made Rodgers’ list of unforgivable grudges. At the moment, Rodgers is the betting favorite to win the MVP award at -400, carrying an implied probability of 80 percent.