Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel absolutely obliterates Aaron Rodgers in new monologue
Do you want to see what a total evisceration, a total demolishing, of another human being by a smart comedian looks like? You can see it with your own eyes. You can watch Jimmy Kimmel pummel Aaron Rodgers into oblivion.
Sometimes, the best jokes are the real ones. Many people (including me) have tried to explain who Rodgers is. We've talked about his arrogance and his conspiracy theories and how he's changed. We've talked about how Rodgers believes he's the smartest guy in the room when he's not. Many of us have tried to sum up Rodgers but no one, not a single person, did it as well as Kimmel did on Monday night.
During an approximately seven-minute monologue to open “Jimmy Kimmel Live” the host ruthlessly mocked Rodgers and challenged him to apologize.
“When you hear a guy who won a Super Bowl and did all the State Farm commercials say something like this,” Kimmel said, referring to Rodgers’ Jeffrey Epstein comments, “a lot of people believe it. A lot of delusional people honestly believe I am meeting up with Tom Hanks and Oprah at Shakey's once a week to eat pizza and drink the blood of children.
“And I know this because I hear from these people often, my wife hears from them. My kids hear from them. My poor mailman hears from these people. And now we’re hearing from lots more of them thanks to Aaron Rodgers.”
In the end, parts of the monologue were so cutting, I think it could potentially impact how Rodgers is viewed in the New York Jets locker room. There will be coaches and players who will secretly watch this clip and wince. That's because Kimmel didn't take Rodgers down a peg. He buried Rodgers deep underground.
Kimmel hadn't responded on his show since the entire situation between he and Rodgers exploded last week. Rodgers went on "The Pat McAfee Show" and stated that Kimmel might be one of the names released in the Epstein case. This, of course, was a lie.
Rodgers' falsehood prompted Kimmel to threaten legal action. Then, McAfee apologized on the air. Then, ESPN apologized. That's where things stood until Monday night's monologue by Kimmel.
Calling him "Karen Rodgers," and "hamster brained," Kimmel slowly dissected the Jets quarterback. Piece by piece. Kimmel kept moving the chains, steadily matriculating down the field. It was a stunning sight.
The most interesting part was this:
"I've spent years doing sports. I've seen guys like him before. Aaron Rodgers has a very high opinion of himself. Because he has success on the football field, he believes himself to be an extraordinary human being. He genuinely thinks that because God gave him the ability to throw a ball, he's smarter than everyone else.
"The idea that his brain is just average is unfathomable to him. We learned during COVID that somehow he knows more about science than scientists. A guy who went to community college, then got into Cal on a football scholarship, and didn't graduate. Someone who never spent a minute studying the human body, is an expert in the field of immunology."
The screen then cut to Rodgers when he was with the Packers and showed the quarterback wearing the iconic Green Bay helmet, with the "G" on the side.
"He put on a magic helmet," Kimmel said, "and that 'G' made him a genius."
More commentary:'Old hags'? Maybe executive just knew all along Pat McAfee would be trouble for ESPN
"Aaron got two A's on his report card," Kimmel said, "and they were both in the word 'Aaron.'"
Dammmmmmmmmmn.
Kimmel added that Rodgers suffers from the Dunning-Kruger Effect, which states that people with limited competence overestimate their skills or intelligence. "In other words," Kimmel said, "Aaron Rodgers is too arrogant to know how ignorant he is."
No one ever has, or ever will, better describe Rodgers than Kimmel did in that monologue. Never, ever.
Notice, it's not necessarily rip roaring funny, but Kimmel wasn't trying to be that, in that moment. It was, however, deeply accurate, and deeply cutting, and that is what makes it so deeply effective.
"When I do get something wrong, which happens on rare occasions, you know what I do? I apologize,” Kimmel said. “Which is what Aaron Rodgers should do, which is what a decent person would do. But I bet he won’t. If he does, you know what I’ll do? I’ll accept his apology and move on. But he probably won’t do that. My guess is he won’t apologize.”
Kimmel finished his monologue saying something important in this era of misinformation and lies.
"The truth," Kimmel said, "still matters."
Will Rodgers learn that lesson? It's doubtful. In fact, no way.
The lesson Rodgers has really learned is to not mess with Jimmy Kimmel.