Aaron Rodgers and Stephen A. Smith haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye over the years, but the Steelers quarterback is giving the ESPN star credit for something he believes was long overdue.
During his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers reacted to Smith’s recent apology to Kyrie Irving over the criticism Irving received for his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine. Smith acknowledged that he had been too hard on Irving and said he owed the NBA star an apology.
Rodgers loved it.
The four-time MVP praised Smith for being willing to reconsider his previous position, especially considering Rodgers faced similar criticism during the pandemic over his own vaccination stance. Rodgers argued that Irving was treated unfairly and said he believes they ended up on the “right side of history.”
That’s a pretty remarkable development considering how heated the COVID debate became in professional sports.
Rodgers and Irving were two of the biggest athletes to push back against vaccine requirements and became lightning rods for criticism because of it. Years later, Rodgers clearly hasn’t forgotten how they were portrayed.
And now he’s essentially asking: Where were these apologies when the controversy was at its peak?
Whether people agree with Rodgers’ broader COVID views or not, Smith publicly acknowledging that he believes he treated Irving unfairly gave Rodgers an opportunity he wasn’t going to pass up.
For once, Rodgers wasn’t going after Stephen A.
He was thanking him.
