During a divisive period in the United States in recent years, sports fans have seen some of their favorite players speak out about policies they may not have agreed with.
There was the Colin Kaepernick controversy, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the 2020 vaccine debate.
Former ESPN host Jemele Hill is calling out fans who want players to “stick to sports.”
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Jemele Hill writes for The Atlantic. (Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images)
Hill, who came under fire for calling former President Trump a “white supremacist” during her time at ESPN, discussed what she says are “different rules for different people” on the “Awful Anusing” podcast.
“The complete falsehood of limiting yourself to sports is that it's never about the topic,” Hill said on the podcast. “It's always about how people feel about the issue, right? There is a large section of people who are anti-vaxxers, as was exposed when we were really at the height of the pandemic.
“We're in the middle of a culture war in America, in general, grievance culture, especially; white conservative grievance culture, even more specifically. And so there are certain opinions that are not going to create the level of indignation that I did it maybe five or six years ago.”
Media personality Pat McAfee recently found himself in hot water after Aaron Rodgers implied on McAfee's show that Jimmy Kimmel would be on Jeffrey Epstein's client list.
It wasn't the first time Rodgers drew attention with an agenda or conspiracy theory. Hill said McAfee has a decision to make.
Former ESPN host Jemele Hill and Pat McAfee. (Robin L Marshall/Getty Images; JC Olivera/Getty Images)
“'Am I serving the audience that brought me here by digressing or allowing my guest to digress into these topics that they probably don't necessarily want to hear,'” Hill said of what McAfee should be pondering.
“But then the other argument could be made because it's fitting firmly into the bubble of anti-mainstream media and mainstream sports media.
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“There are a lot of people who are fans of his and who love the fact that he is, while they are in your network, challenging the same network. They like that. And that fuels the perception that his show is not for traditional sports fans. It's for people who think a little more outside the box and who like the rebellious nature of the show.
“You can argue that maybe it's serving them. But I'd like to think that most people who tune in to watch Aaron Rodgers or Pat McAfee probably want to hear about sports.”
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Oct. 30, 2023, in New York City (Randy Brooke/FilmMagic)
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Hill said that Rodgers' appearances on the show “have become [ESPN] on OANN (One American News Network)”.
“It's like you're watching Newsmax,” he said on CNN this week.
McAfee admitted this week that the scrutiny was “really loud” and he was “happy” that Rodgers' appearances were over.
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