Recently, the world of sports and politics collided when there were talks of Aaron Rodgers joining the presidential election as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vice president nomination.
It’s election year, and it has been set in stone that the nominees will be a repeat of the previous election’s choices. This race will feel like deja vu: the incumbent, 81-year-old Joe Biden versus the 77-year-old, potential felon Donald Trump. Yet there is a distinct factor that differentiates this election from the previous: the presence of a highly recognizable third-party candidate.
While the U.S. election tends to focus on the Republican and Democratic nominees respectively, this year has a unique emphasis on those running independently. On the independent ticket is Kennedy, who, being the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, has substantially more public recognition than other politicians who had run as third-party candidates in the past.
Making R.F.K. Jr.’s campaign even more unique is his choice for his vice president, should he win the election. Kennedy has reached out to Rodgers, the 40-year-old starting quarterback of the New York Jets, to be his vice president on the ballots set to be voted on in November.
It was crazy when TV personality and wealth extraordinaire Trump declared his race for the presidency on the 2016 ballot. Most people didn’t expect much to come from Trump’s campaign, but political engagement in American politics has expanded to include anyone, even those with no political background.
Now, the leader of a budding New York Jets team could find himself splitting time between throwing dimes to Garrett Wilson for TDs and promoting Kennedy on the campaign trail.
On game days, he’ll be working tirelessly to lead the Jets to victory, while the rest of the week he’ll be trying to assist Kennedy to victory. He’d surely have to skip practice to support his running mate on the campaign trail. Instead of learning plays and throwing practice routes, he’ll be out traveling the country with the political nepo baby in an attempt to hold the second-highest office in America.
It will be interesting to see how the Jets feel about this. An independent has never won the presidency, so it’s safe to say Rodgers will not be the Vice President if he even accepts the role. But his commitment to the Jets’ organization will not be nearly as thorough as it could be since he’ll surely have to be running all over the country with R.F.K. Jr, not to mention how a connection to politics could harm the Jets’ marketing. They won’t win, but it will take away from Rodgers’ time with the team tremendously.
Rodgers hasn’t committed to the role yet, but it seems as if he is exercising the idea and has not completely dismissed its potential. Rodgers and Kennedy went on a little boy date last month as they hiked and talked about who-knows-what, according to. It has also been said that they have been in constant communication for the past month or so.
The offer has been extended to four-time NFL MVP Rodgers, and it’s still up in the air whether he will assume the role of Kennedy’s Vice President. What is not up in the air: he will be the starting quarterback for the Jets. We will have to see if Rodgers is a man that can do both. It seems unlikely considering the time management of being a quarterback in the most famous American sports league, as well as running for the second-highest office in America, but anything can happen, like having a president with almost 100 felony charges pending. Kennedy will make his decision on March 26, although it is already circulating that he has potentially declined the offer.