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While he’s now more of an elder statesman than a rising star, Aaron Rodgers is still talented. During his 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, the quarterback did just about everything imaginable. He replaced a franchise legend, won NFL MVP on two separate occasions, and lifted the Lombardi Trophy. At one point, he was also mistakenly implicated in a murder.

Yes, you read that correctly. While Rodgers, of course, has not killed anyone, that didn’t stop some on-air personalities from making an error. In 2013, ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap and Mike Golic accidentally tied the quarterback — now with the New York Jets — to the murder of Odin Lloyd.

Aaron Rodgers’ rise to prominence with the Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers earned a place in Green Bay Packers’ history as a star quarterback. At one point, though, it looked like his football career would never get off the ground.

Despite finding success on the high school gridiron, Rodgers couldn’t land a big-time college football scholarship. Most programs decided he wasn’t big enough to survive under center. The quarterback, however, took his talents to Butte Community College. During his one season there, he showed enough to earn a transfer to Cal.

With the Golden Bears, Rodgers proved to be quite a talent, throwing for 5,469 yards and 43 touchdowns over the course of two seasons before entering the 2005 NFL Draft. His odyssey, however, wasn’t done yet.

When draft night arrived, concerns about Rodgers’ height resurfaced, and he slipped down the draft board. After a seeming eternity in the green room, he eventually joined the Packers as the 24th overall pick. While he didn’t land in the easiest situation — he had to sit behind Brett Favre before being tasked with replacing the franchise legend — Rodgers didn’t seem to mind. Once he eventually got his chance under center, he became a star.

Accidentally implicated in a murder by ESPN

By 2013, Aaron Rodgers had established himself as a legitimate power player on the NFL scene. During that summer, though, he was accidentally implicated in a murder by two separate ESPN personalities.

As football fans may remember, Aaron Hernandez’s murder of Odin Loyd dominated headlines that summer. During ESPN’s coverage of events, though, Jeremy Schaap made an unfortunate error. “Based on what we heard, there is a lot of evidence, albeit circumstantial, implicating Aaron Rodgers in the death of Odin Loyd,” the reporter explained in a clip preserved on Youtube.

Schaap wasn’t the only one to get mistakenly mention Rodgers, though. As documented by Bleacher Report, Mike Golic also said, “Holy smokes, does it look like they have a whole lot on ‘Aaron Rodgers,'” during a conversation with legal analyst Roger Cossack.

For his part, though, the quarterback didn’t seem to be too concerned. “Not funny ESPN,” he simply tweeted.

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference

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Senior Writer, Programmer

Joe Kozlowski

Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he’s a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie.

Growing up loving Shaquille O’Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he’s continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives.

As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He’s barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe’s big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level.

Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.