http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette ... /110118154Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers received a blindside hit over the weekend, but it didn’t come on the football field.
Rodgers was excoriated by Profootballtalk.com editor Mike Florio, who also appears on NBC’s “Football Night in America,” for walking past an autograph-seeking fan at the Green Bay airport on Friday without stopping.
On the basis of a short video clip aired by WBAY-TV that went viral on the Internet, Florio concluded in so many words that Rodgers was arrogant and uncaring.
National radio talk show host Dan Patrick described Florio’s assault on Rodgers as “character assassination.”
The fan in question is cancer survivor Jan Cavanaugh, who wanted team members, including Rodgers, to sign her pink cap.
“I didn’t see her,” Rodgers said during an appearance on Patrick’s show on Tuesday. “I didn’t sign for her and this kind of has turned into something I didn’t really expect. But I think the people of Green Bay, they know how I feel about them and how much I appreciate their support.”
What Florio didn’t know is that Rodgers has signed items for Cavenaugh in the past, including a pink No. 12 jersey the week before at the airport.
Cavanaugh said Monday that she is upset about the criticism directed at Rodgers.
“I am very unhappy with people making so much out of this, because this really isn’t that big of a deal,” Cavenaugh told WBAY.
Rodgers participates in many charitable activities. Those who know him well say Rodgers does a lot of volunteer work behind the scenes and likes it that way.
Green Bay Community Church pastor Troy Murphy has known Rodgers for three years and speaks highly of him.
“If there’s one guy that I have seen when I have been with disability veterans, cancer people, anybody that’s ill, Aaron, he loves those that have been distressed,” said Murphy, who traveled with Rodgers on an offseason trip to Fort Wainwright, Alaska, to spend time with soldiers on their way to Iraq.
Murphy remembers one instance when Packers players behind closed doors met with a child in a wheelchair.
“Aaron was the first guy up there sitting with him,” Murphy said. “He spends time, talks with him, hangs out with him. Aaron does more of that stuff, he’s a phenomenal guy that way.”
None of this is meant to nominate Rodgers for sainthood. But it gives a much more accurate glimpse into his character and stands in stark contrast to Florio’s harsh, judgmental tone based on a 2-second video clip.
To his credit, Florio on Tuesday night issued an apology, which was two days overdue.
It’s too bad Rodgers’ reputation was dragged through the mud based on unfounded, hysterical assumptions.
“I know Aaron and have seen him live,” Murphy said. “For him to blow somebody off, it’s just not who he is
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