NFL Quarterback Aaron Rodgers Opens Up about Decade-Old Response to Rumors He was Gay

Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers – now playing with the New York Jets – gave an explanation for his reaction in 2013 to rumors that he was gay, saying that what angered him was the presumption that "gay" is an insult, TMZ Sports reported.

Rodgers "famously proclaimed he 'really, really' liked women amid speculation surrounding his dating life when he was a member of the Green Bay Packers back in 2013," TMZ relayed, "and in Ian O'Connor's new biography, 'Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers,' he explained why he addressed the claims."

The book quotes Rodgers declaring that he "was upset" not at the rumor that he was gay, but rather "because it was meant to shame the idea of being gay, and I have so many friends that are gay in the community."

The former NFL star went on to add, "I'm like, 'Say anything you want about me, but do you understand these people are using this to shame the idea of being gay?'... That's just disrespectful to all my friends who are in the community who don't believe that it's a choice."

But not everyone accepted Rodgers' explanation. An editorial from queer athletics site Outsports flatly declined to buy into his claims, calling them "not remotely believable."

The author of the editorial, Outsports co-founder Cyd Zeigler, offered a "recap" of the 2013 situation, recalling that "Rodgers had a personal assistant early in his career in Green Bay with whom he was apparently bound at the hip. When the business relationship between the two went south, for various reasons speculation arose that the two had been gay lovers."

"Rodgers was pretty silent about the whole affair, except for one interview," Zeigler added – and that was the interview in which he gave his response about "really, really" liking women.

The editorial put the rumor, and Rodgers' response to it, into the context of the times in which they happened: a period in which "the country was in an intense national debate over the legalization of same-sex marriage."

"If Rodgers cared so much about his gay friends, why did he – in this moment – abandon the conversation?" Zeigler wondered. "Why did he not stand up for his gay friends and their relationships?"

"The answer certainly seems to me to be clear: He didn't care about his gay friends, and he didn't care about their loving relationships. He cared about his image, and he wanted to make sure – first and foremost – that everyone knew he was STRAIGHT STRAIGHT STRAIGHT STRAIGHT STRAIGHT STRAIGHT."

Added Zeigler: "And for me – the person who wrote the autobiography of Ryan O'Callaghan, the former NFL offensive lineman who came out as gay – it seems even more telling."

"Before the rumors erupted, O'Callaghan had been Rodgers' offensive tackle at Cal, and the two were very good friends," Zeigler explained. "The two saw each other regularly and, according to O'Callaghan's book, 'My Life On The Line,' they were engaged in conversations about creating a business together."

Then "those rumors surfaced and Rodgers addressed them," Zeigler wrote, adding that in O'Callaghn's version of events, Rodgers abruptly "cut off all communication with his gay friend."

"Some might read this and think Aaron cut off communication with his gay friend when rumors about him being gay came up," O'Callaghan writes in the book, according to Zeigler's editorial. "This could be the case, but I don't know for sure."

But Zeigler seems convinced.

"To his credit, Rodgers has spoken out against anti-gay language in and around football," Zeigler conceded in the opinion piece. "None of this should be construed as him being homophobic. In contrast, I think he is 100% cool with gay people."

"Yet the explanation he gives about his reaction to the 'gay rumors' seems like a rationalization, made up in his head a decade later," Zeigler said.