Aaron Rodgers speaking 'pretty continuously' with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about potential VP run, per report
Aaron Rodgers is supposed to be the New York Jets' starting quarterback this year. He is apparently considering the addition of "vice presidential candidate" to his list of responsibilities.
The former MVP quarterback is at the top of the list of potential running mates for third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who confirmed his interest to The New York Times. Former professional wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is reportedly the other candidate at the top.
That interest has reportedly taken the form of Kennedy speaking "pretty continuously" with Rodgers over the past month. The domain name "kennedyrodgers.com" was also reportedly registered via a GoDaddy host last week.
Kennedy is considered a fringe candidate who receives attention for his promotion of conspiracy theories and vaccine skepticism. That's an area where he and Rodgers are quite publicly in alignment, as Rodgers has become increasingly notorious in the football world for using his public appearances to make controversial and sometimes outright false statements, such as when he implied Jimmy Kimmel was on the Jeffrey Epstein list.
That Kimmel statement earned scorn from ESPN, the network that aired it and whose owner employs Kimmel. With Kennedy, however, Rodgers would be running with a person who has acknowledged taking two flights on Jeffrey Epstein's plane.
We won't have to wait long to find out who Kennedy will actually pick to be his longshot campaign's running mate. His campaign announced Wednesday that it would reveal Kennedy's VP choice on March 26 in Oakland.
Is Aaron Rodgers getting his post-NFL future started?
Rodgers is reportedly being considered for a vice presidential run at a hazy time in his football career.
The longtime Green Bay Packers star was traded to the Jets last offseason. His Jets career was put on hiatus after four snaps in the team's season opener, when he tore his Achilles tendon and was knocked out for the season.
Rodgers remains under contract with the Jets for the next two seasons, most recently taking a pay cut last summer to alleviate some pressure on the team's cap sheet.
At 40 years old, however, Rodgers has faced retirement speculation over the past few years and this most recent news will only make that noise louder. Running for vice president is a full-time job even for third-party candidates, though if receiving the attention is the primary goal here, Rodgers would arguably present plenty of value to Kennedy's campaign just by taking the field and doing interviews as a star in the country's most-watched sports league.
This isn't even the first time Rodgers has been seen looking for a significant job outside of football. He made a bid to become the permanent host of trivia show "Jeopardy!" and guest-hosted the show for two weeks in 2021. That role was ultimately split between legendary contestant Ken Jennings and actress Mayim Bialik.
Jets signed Aaron Rodgers' backup a day earlier
The Jets will soon be preparing for their season. There is apparently a chance the player they built their immediate future around will be running for vice president, or at the very least was confirmed to be very interested in running for vice president.
This news came only a day after the team agreed to sign veteran Tyrod Taylor to be Rodgers' backup. At two years and $18 million, the team used significant money to buy Rodgers insurance and you can only wonder how aware the team was of Rodgers' political ambitions.
The Jets also still have former starter and No. 2 pick Zach Wilson under contract, but they recently allowed him to seek a trade. The team also holds the 10th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, which could see as many as five quarterbacks taken in the first round, according to Yahoo Sports' recent mock draft.
