It’s been seven days since Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter to “lose my number.”
Rodgers texted the response to Schefter, who wanted to confirm a report from Trey Wingo that the four-time MVP would be a New York Jet in 2023. Schefter, the league’s resident news breaker, recently addressed what fully took place between he and Rodgers last week.
“I’ve had his number for a while. I never once used it,” Schefter told Peter King of NBC Sports. “Trey Wingo reported [last Monday] he was ‘hearing’ that Rodgers to the Jets was done. The day he did it, ESPN was going live from 3 to 5 on free agency. Everyone was saying Aaron Rodgers to the Jets is done. We’re on the air for two hours. I call the Jets, I call the Pack, I call Rodgers’ advisers. No one’s saying anything.
“So, I’m sitting there on the set with Dianna Russini. ‘Should I text Rodgers?’ She said, ‘Yeah, text him.’ At 3:35, I texted him. I say, basically: ‘Have you informed the Jets that you’d like to play there? I wanted to open it up to you.’ He didn’t respond for maybe 10 minutes. So then I called the number, got sent to voice mail. Then he texts me, ‘Lose my number. Good try tho.’
“That’s all. He’s the one who says the media’s getting it wrong. I wanted to go to source and get it right. That’s all. I was just trying to do my job.”
Aaron Rodgers Fires Shots at ESPN Insiders Including Adam Schefter
Rodgers, who during his hour-long Wednesday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” announced his intention to play for the Jets this upcoming season, took a shot at Schefter and his ESPN colleague, Dianna Russini for their reporting.
“Ask Schefter what I texted him when he somehow got my number and texted me,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t respond to Dianna Russini, I think her name is? She got my number as well. But like, I would say the same thing that I told Schefty. Lose my number, nice try. I’ll speak for myself. I’m sure there will be people that have their sources, but from what I’ve seen, I had a sheet of paper when I met with the Jets and I said, ‘sign these people.’ That’s not the reality. That’s ridiculous.”
Russini later stood by her report that Rodgers had a “wish-list” of free agents he’d like the Jets to target and acquire.
“These were not demands,” Russini said. “These were not demands from Aaron Rodgers and we never reported it that way. And we never presented it that way. It was “these are the players I want to join or who I want to join me in New York, here are guys I like.’”
