ESPN’s Rob Demovsky wrote an article titled “Five reasons why quarterback Aaron Rodgers is struggling,” in which he tries to figure out why the Packers’ star quarterback hasn’t been his impeccable self in the last few games. The reasons Demovsky gives range from perfectly reasonable—Jordy Nelson is hurt—to the oddly speculative.
Here’s Demovsky’s fifth reason:
Possible off-field issues?: A longtime NFL agent told me recently that when he sees one of his top-performing clients play differently, as Rodgers has of late, the first thing he wonders is if something is going on in his personal life. There’s no indication that Rodgers’ relationship status has changed. Lions reporters said they spotted Rodgers’ girlfriend, actress Olivia Munn, at Lambeau Field on Sunday. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that professional athletes have lives away from the field, and you never know what could be going on in their personal lives.
A writer bringing up possible tribulations in the personal life of an athlete in this context is never much more than throwing some shit at a wall, but it’s kind of weird for Demovsky to specifically call out Munn. It’s unlikely Rodgers’s relationship would have been mentioned at all if he was dating a non-famous person, and that’s not lost on Munn:
Demovsky should have probably just ended his list after the fourth reason.