madlithuanian Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62-zJzB-chA http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/...avanaugh-video/ Last word on the Aaron Rodgers-Jan Cavanaugh video Posted by Mike Florio on January 17, 2011, 6:31 PM EST When we posted on Sunday the item regarding video from WBAY-TV showing Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers breezing by a breast cancer patient hopeful that he’d sign her hat, we knew there would be a reaction. Packers fans, basking in the franchise’s biggest win since Brett Favre left town, have no interest in any criticism of their new green-and-golden boy. It’s obvious. It’s predictable. And we don’t blame them for being protective of their star quarterback. After all, plenty of fans of other teams blindly have defended far, far worse behavior by their star quarterbacks. (The Falcons circa 2007 and the Steelers circa 2010 come to mind.) Rodgers, as we admitted on Sunday, was fully within his rights to not acknowledge the existence of Jan Cavanaugh while walking through the airport as the team either was heading to or returning from Atlanta. And we had every right to react to the video, as harvested, edited, and presented by WBAY, by opining that Rodgers was acting like an ass. Since the item surfaced here and at Deadspin, a litany of excuses and clarifications has emerged on Rodgers’ behalf. For some bloggers inclined either to pander to Packers fans or to settle old scores with (or possibly, to gain some traffic by sparking a public fight), the caught-on-film conduct of Rodgers has been overlooked or minimized in favor of attacks against those who dared to point out what the video obviously shows — Rodgers walking past Jan Cavanaugh as if she didn’t exist. How strong is the desire to defend Rodgers from criticism? We’ve even been accused of running a payola ring, trading favorable coverage of players for cash. Yes, at least one man with a cheesehead fashioned from tin foil suggests that we have funded PFT by illegally taking money from agents to say nice things about their clients, and to say bad things about the clients of their competitors. (For the benefit of those who will be inclined to think it’s true unless we dignify the delusion with a denial, the accusation is completely untrue.) Actually, it was against our interests to post the story criticizing Rodgers, since we had submitted a request on Sunday for a Packers player to appear this week on PFT Live. We’ve got a feeling that, for perhaps the same reason WBAY so quickly deleted the video, our request will be denied. It doesn’t matter whether it was Rodgers or any other player. Whoever walked by Jan Cavanaugh like she wasn’t even there was going to get reamed on the pages of PFT, because I believe that cancer patients deserve the highest level of respect and deference that can be provided. Anyone whose life has been touched by the disease knows what I mean. We all can see in Jan Cavanaugh the mother or sister or aunt or friend or neighbor who has had to confront a silent killer that could kill — and, frankly, eventually will kill — many of the people reading these words. (For those of you who make it to 45 without getting cancer, that’s probably about the time you’ll start worrying from time to time about all the different organs in your body, and your spouse’s body, that eventually could be infested with it.) This, in the lull between a boring Seahawks-Bears game and the start of the Jets-Patriots game the WBAY report, forwarded to us by multiple readers, struck a nerve with me. So what of the follow-up report from WBAY, which likely has spent much of the past 24 hours apologizing to angry viewers for depicting Rodgers in a negative light and simultaneously applying lips to the buttocks of anyone and everyone in the Packers organization, that Rodgers signed a jersey the week before for Cavanaugh? Apparently, some of you think that makes his decision to walk past her without a nod or a smile or anything else fine and dandy. I don’t. If anything, this familiarity tends to reinforce the notion that Rodgers knew or should have known that Cavanaugh has cancer, making his failure to offer a friendly nod or a wave or a quick “not today, maybe next time” while she waited for him to sign her hat even more strange. Many Packers fans have pointed out all the charitable things that Rodgers has done over the years. He deserves credit for that. And so allow us publicly to declare, “Attaboy.” Folks who frequent this site on a regular basis know that we aren’t terribly impressed by the things athletes do while the world is watching. As one high-level executive with a team other than the Packers (and not an NFC North rival) observed in response the WBAY video, what we do when tired, cranky, busy, etc. reveals more about our true character than what we do when attending a charitable event arranged through the team and/or handlers. As to the argument that Rodgers was wearing ear buds and thus not paying attention to his surroundings, that excuse doesn’t cut it as to anyone who is over the age 0f 15. Rodgers knows that fans gather in that airport when the Packers come and go. Choosing to remain in his own little world isn’t the way to interact with those whose interest in football helps pay Rodgers’ salary. (Which was the real point of our first story on the matter.) As to the idea that Rodgers was just focused on the task at hand, the Packers were flying to Atlanta, not walking into the Georgia Dome. As to the idea that Jan Cavanaugh wasn’t bothered by Rodgers’ decision to snub her, that’s her prerogative. And we respect her for it. She’s a Packers fan, she lives in the area, she wants to see the team do well, and she’s got bigger things in her life to worry about than whether Aaron Rodgers will give her the time of day. Bottom line? As we said last night on Twitter, nothing said or argued or reported since we first posted the item changes for us the image of Rodgers ignoring Jan Cavanaugh. But if it will make Packers fans feel better to complain about our coverage of the incident instead of acknowledging (as a few grudgingly have done) that Rodgers handled the situation poorly, nothing we can say or argue or report will change that. More.... http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/...ney-comes-from/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearFan2000 Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 If Cutler had done that it would have been one of the top stories this week. Props to Clay Matthews for stopping to give his autograph, and he said they were told by the stewardess that she'd be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan Grizzly Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 Until this incident, I had better respect for Rodgers as a person. Knowing that Matthews not only knew ahead of time about this lady but stopped to talk to her allows me to add Rodgers as one of the least liked Packers. Not quite as low as Favre but heading that way. Maybe Rodgers is different in that he will fix what has become a bad public snub. We'll see. Either way, the Bears WILL beat you and your fellow fudgepackers on Sunday Aaron. See you then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Hochuli 3:16 Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 There's already a thread on this. But if you missed my comments: This is pretty f***ing ridiculous. Are reporters this damn bored? So every cancer patient that wants an autograph should get one? Look, cancer is in my family's genes and I've had many family members and friends die from it. But christ, give Rodgers a break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'TD' Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 Looks like a no win situation by the basis of that article. If he stopped and signed the shirt or hat, then he would have been doing it for the cameras. The article criticizes doing stuff set up for publicity. If he doesn't sign it, then he is a bad person. He most likely never noticed her, and was going about his business. If Aaron Rodgers stopped for every autograph people wanted, then his throwing arm would fall off. If you notice at the end of this video, which shows more, she had a Clay Matthews Jersey. Matthews said when he was told by the stewardess about her, there's a camera there, so it looks like a set up thing for her to meet Matthews. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1bWg6Iaa9A&NR=1 Plus, he had signed her Jersey just the week before and had signed many things for her in the past. Her and her husband supposedly go to try to get autographs as much as possible according to her. There's the follow up the station had done with her, after she had found out about the video going viral. http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=13857012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flea Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 As I said in the other thread, it's a non story. Cutler would have been ripped if it was him but if that story came out about Cutler the majority of this board wouldbeupo in arms defending Cutlers right not to sign & how all that matters is results on the field. Double standards all around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connorbear Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 Team, I deleted 4 replies on this post as they had a political reference in them. I apologize for not responding last night when I saw the post but I honestly didn't think about it at the time. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 Reading this I thought, "Big deal, there are tons of people who want autographs and just don't get them for whatever reason." Players get swamped with requests, and it's natural that they will not get to everyone. Then I watched the video... 1-It's pretty clear that he had to see her, because he actually moved around her slightly. 1a-If he didn't see the old lady decked out in pink RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM, then I don't know how he does so well at QB. There were nearly no other people there. 2-Clay Matthews' comments confirmed that the players already knew about the lady beforehand. My thoughts now? F*#k Aaron Rodgers and the horse he rode in on. I, too, have had cancer in my family, having at least three people die of the results - my mother less than a year ago. And if this multi-millionaire asswipe can't take 30 seconds out of his oh-so-busy day to make a fan happy, especially one who in difficult times still devotes much of her energy towards cheering on the player, then it says a lot about Aaron Rodgers. I didn't like him before because he played for the Packers, but I didn't yet hate him on Farv levels. If he keeps up actions like this, it won't take him long to edge into Farv-hate territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackerDog Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 My first take was also the this was a pile of doo doo story. But then I watched the video. He clearly snubs her and it isn't cool. He's a douche. And I won't even mention Sarah Palin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearsFan1974 Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 There's already a thread on this. But if you missed my comments: This is pretty f***ing ridiculous. Are reporters this damn bored? So every cancer patient that wants an autograph should get one? Look, cancer is in my family's genes and I've had many family members and friends die from it. But christ, give Rodgers a break. I agree...the lady is like 45-50 years old. It's not like it was an 8 year old. Yeah he snubbed her in the airport, but geez. Regardless, he'll get his come Sunday!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted January 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 I must've missed that thread in my stupor over the win! Then again, I probably hit it up w/o remembering! I don't put a lot of stock into this other than, he'd a Packer. i hate Packers. His actions or lack of actions was douchey. I hate him more now. That's it.... And I gurantee, if it were Cutler, this would be all over ESPN... There's already a thread on this. But if you missed my comments: This is pretty f***ing ridiculous. Are reporters this damn bored? So every cancer patient that wants an autograph should get one? Look, cancer is in my family's genes and I've had many family members and friends die from it. But christ, give Rodgers a break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownman Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 I just read on a longer version of this story on You Tube where Clay Matthews III stops and signs for her. The woman advises that Rodgers has signed numerous things for her and the week previous had signed something. The lady is shocked at the negative publicity Rodgers is receiving for his apparent snub. Not sure what truthfully happened however, I think we are only getting the media version of the story and not the whole story of what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChileBear Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 I just read on a longer version of this story on You Tube where Clay Matthews III stops and signs for her. The woman advises that Rodgers has signed numerous things for her and the week previous had signed something. The lady is shocked at the negative publicity Rodgers is receiving for his apparent snub. Not sure what truthfully happened however, I think we are only getting the media version of the story and not the whole story of what happened. Read that as well. Just seems like he could have acknowledged her. After watching the video, it doesn't seem like that big a deal for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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