Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers will not be a unanimous MVP

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is in the running for his fourth MVP honor. If he does take home the award, it will not be by unanimous decision.

The NFL MVP winner will not be announced until February 12th. Aaron Rodgers is not ready to put the cart before the horse and declare victory.

There is one voter that will not be putting Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ name on the MVP ballot.

Pro Football Weekly Executive Director, Hub Arkush, is adamant about not voting for Rodgers. His main reason is not that he prefers another player.

His main point is because he thinks Aaron Rodgers is just a bad guy. He explained his rationale on Chicago sports talk station 670 the Score.

"“I don’t think you can be the biggest jerk in the league and punish your team, your organization, and your fan base the way he did and be the most valuable player.”“Has he been the most valuable on the field? Yeah, you can make that argument but I don’t think he is clearly that much more valuable than Jonathan Taylor or Cooper Kupp or maybe even Tom Brady.“From where I sit, the rest of it is why he’s not going to be my choice.”“Do I think he is going to win it? Probably”“A lot of the voters don’t approach it the same way that I do. Others do who I have spoken to.”"

Hub did explain there are no guidelines on vaccination status when it comes to MVP voting. He did go into detail on how Aaron Rodgers hurt the Packers on the field because he missed a game with COVID-19 after not getting vaccinated and instead getting immunized.

"“We are told to pick the guy who we think is the most valuable to his team. I don’t think it says anywhere strictly on the field although I think he hurt his team on the field by the way he acted off the field.”“They are going to get the No. 1 seed anyway but what if the difference had come to the Chiefs game where he lied about being vaccinated? He ended up not playing and [they] got beat. I think all these things should be considerations.””They are others who won’t vote for him and will not mention anything [about] off the field [issues] because the fact is there are other players, and I just mentioned a few of them, who have also had fantastic and valuable seasons.”"

Arkush went on to say he will not be the only one not voting for Aaron Rodgers. He added he is not voting for Rodgers simply because of his vaccination versus immunized status, but also how Rodgers carried himself in the off-season.

Hub Arkush took a lot of heat for his controversial comments.

He had some defenders.

In the end, Hub’s comments really upset Aaron Rodgers.

Should Hub have kept who he is not voting for to himself? Probably, and Hub did own that he should have kept the comments private after creating such a stir.

Before we continue here, the rest of this piece is not about vaccination viewpoints. Also, this is not a piece about Democrat versus Republican ideology on the pandemic.

Instead, it is about tackling one of the more interesting points of Hub’s rationale.

What makes Hub’s comments intriguing, or infuriating depending on what side you take, is this might be the first time character will be taken into account for an NFL MVP vote.

Not every MVP winner is a saint.

Adrian Peterson won an MVP before all his child-raising techniques were brought to light. Lawrence Taylor’s drug issues are well documented. OJ Simpson even has a MVP before, well, we do not need to go down that road.

All their troubles happened after the fact they won the award. With Rodgers, we have his controversies playing out in real-time before the hardware is handed out.

It is rare for a player in the NFL not to get the award or a vote because he is a polarizing figure or has taken a specific controversial stand on an issue.

Although, maybe there was a voter out there in 2017 not giving Tom Brady its MVP vote because of deflate-gate.

Should character be taken into account as a voting criterion?

It is a slippery slope.

Does character throw touchdown passes? Does character matter when it comes to winning despite dealing with major injuries? Did Rodgers’ character come into account when he threw only four interceptions and won 13 games?

We should all agree–even Hub concurs–that Aaron Rodgers is having an amazing season. The Packers’ offensive line has been banged up all year, and yet, Rodgers has once again helped lead the Pack to the No. 1 seed in the NFC’s playoff side.

Yes, Rodgers’ offseason pouting may have cost the Packers the season-opening game against the Saints, and his COVID-19 illness cost the Chiefs game.

Yet, the Packers are knocking on the Super Bowl’s doorstep, so should all this matter?

Then again, should being a good teammate for an entire season count for something?

At the end of the day, Hub Arkush is just one voter. He has always spoken his mind. Sometimes he is right, and sometimes he is wrong.

Yes, let’s address the elephant in the room. Hub is a current Chicago Bears beat reporter and former team radio analyst. Accusing him of Bears bias is justifiable, but at the same time, he was part of the Packers Radio Network pregame show for many years.

This is not meant to defend Rodgers or Hub. This is not meant to discuss the woke mob going after Rodgers.

Rather, it is meant to shine a light on probably the first time ever character may matter in the MVP voting and whether it should matter.

Rodgers winning the MVP not by a unanimous decision will not take the shine off his fourth award. It only becomes a controversy if Rodgers loses the vote.