Aaron Rodgers “I still own you” is racist as Hell
I’ve lived in Chicago for 7 years now, and it’s a chocolate city — to quote the mayor of New Orleans. Most Bears fans I know don’t look like the SNL skit I grew up on, but rather they’re black. A great many of them are LGBTQ, hispanic, and immigrants as well. It is an impressively diverse city.
Not far from Soldier Field is Chinatown and the Southside of Chicago, both of which are very beautiful places. Most Bears fans I know personally are black men and women. I can’t imagine when Aaron looked out over that crowd, he didn’t see a lot of black faces.
Beware woke white men — I say as a sometimes woke white man. Beware us. We often love to say the right thing and get the fawning attention we think we deserve, but we often act very differently.
Aaron Rodgers recently, or rather over the past couple of seasons, has gotten his head coach in Mike McCarthy fired, has demanded they fire the GM, has threatened to retire, and has been called distant and aloof by his own teammates, who he often leaves out to dry in post-game press conferences, even when he appears to be at the center of a loss. Can you imagine Aaron Rodgers getting away with any of this if he were black? Can you imagine a black player demanding a GM be fired, and then be allowed to keep his job. Can you imagine a black player getting the media to go along with every single one of his greivances? Can you imagine a black player telling Green Bay fans, in a city that is 85% white, “I own you” and not being met with a parade of boos. Can you imagine a black player not getting an “excessive celebration” penalty over those remarks, or being fined by the league for inappropriate language or gestures? I can’t. I just can’t.
Aaron Rodgers, surrounded by several white players, felt comfortable saying “I still own you” to a city that is only 50% white, 30% black, and nearly 30% Hispanic/Latino. He felt comfortable doing that. He felt comfortable that the media wouldn’t question it. They didn’t. He felt comfortable Football fans would have his back over racist rhetoric. They did. He felt comfortable displaying more entitled behavior, despite having as many Super Bowl wins as the comparatively quiet Russell Wilson — who has never gotten one vote for MVP, despite deserving at least that.
Russell Wilson, a man who beat Peyton Manning, to win that Super Bowl.
Black quarterbacks always seem to have to display Tom Brady-like behavior, to be considered half as good as Aaron Rodgers, a man who consistently comes up short in big playoff games. A man who seems to have tons of off the field issues, and chases actresses and super models, only to break up with them. A man who allegedly greeted Brett Favre with “good morning, grandpa” the first time they met. Again, could you imagine a black quarterback openly insulting a veteran first-ballot Hall of Famer and American icon like Brett Favre to his face and not facing consequences for that? I can’t. Apparently, everyone else can.
People carry Aaron Rodgers’ water everywhere — despite one Super Bowl win 10 years ago. They boo and hiss at Jordan Love, a black quarterback, even getting reps at practice. Most in the media secretly seem to wish he’d be tarred, feathered, and run out of town for daring to be drafted in the first round and threaten the hegemony of the white Green Bay master — who is 37 years of age, the time when most teams try to move on from their quarterback, including the Patriots with 6 time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.
Why do I feel like I’m the only one who sees this? True, I live in Chicago, but I was born in Boston. I grew up rooting for Drew Bledsoe, and then Tom Brady. Tom Brady, by Aaron Rodgers’ logic, “owns” Green Bay. I shouldn’t even be aware of this, or sensitive to it. I could care less about this rivalry since I’ve watched Tom Brady dismantle both teams time and again. I do though. I instantly got a shutter down my spine the minute I saw Aaron Rodgers chanting “I still own you” to a Chicagoan crowd.
“I still own you”
I thought for sure when I turned on Shannon Sharpe or Stephen A. Smith, that after all their talk about Kaepernick, and racism, surely, someone would flag this. I didn’t want to see Aaron Rodgers canceled. I just wanted some consistency.
Only a week later there was a collective confusion over why Jon Gruden felt so embolden to say a prominent league attorney, who happened to be black, “had lips the size of Michelin tires”. Offensive, racist, unprofessional — indeed, all those things — but, “I still own you”, isn’t that worse? Doesn’t this vindicate exactly why Jon Gruden felt like his remarks weren’t offensive, as implied by his non-apology. Yes, Aaron Rodgers is a great regular season quarterback, and he wins a lot of games, throws a lot of touchdowns, and doesn’t turn the ball over. By contrast, Jon Gruden is a solid play caller with a dubious win-loss and has only made the playoffs twice in his last several seasons. So is it that winning and talent just lets white people get away with bad behavior? Well, yes, of course, that is it. That’s why former league MVP and super-talented Cam Newton is currently sitting at home — he’s a very eccentric person who can easily become a distraction (just like Aaron Rodgers).
I don’t think Aaron Rodgers is racist. He’s stood up for Colin Kaepernick. He’s also condemned Jon Gruden’s comments. However, that was followed up by him turning around and saying questionable things to a very diverse city — very questionable and racist things. Do as I say, not as I do. There was no reckoning for his behavior or his rhetoric as there would have been if he were black. He may just be unaware of how his privilege has resulted in him feeling like this isn’t racist. Others may be complicit in this system that seems to not only not condemn racist thoughts, words, and actions, but often rewards them. This is one of those instances.
He should apologize for what he said, and then we should move on. But no white player, no matter how good, should be shouting “I still own you” to thousands of black fans in a stadium. Not in 2021.