Drama in the NFL

Aaron Rodgers Injury: Aaron Rodgers injured in first game as new Jets starting quarterback.

On August 1st, 2023, Aaron Rodgers signed a $75 Million two year contract with the New York Jets. Jets fans were eager to start the season underway. Senior die-hard Jets fan Aidan Steele of MRHS said that “Rogers is the greatest quarterback the Jets have ever had on their roster.”  He says the hope is a ROI (return on investment) and further explains that “with all the money being spent, the Jets might bring home a ring.” The Jets were ranked 13th now in power rankings and were hungry to get a playoff appearance for the first time since 2010. Another serious Jets fan, Senior Joe Alfano, says that “Aaron Rodgers will come back this year and he will be amazing.”

The Jets were set to play their week one game against the Buffalo Bills on September 11th. It was time for the game, and the Jets kicked it off to the Bills, as the game was underway. The Bills ended up finishing the drive punting the ball away to New York. After a 26 yard run by Breece Hall, the Jets were set up 1st and 10 and looking to do damage. The ball was snapped to Rodgers and he was looking to pass. All of the sudden, just four plays into the game, edge rusher Leonard Floyd sacked Aaron Rodgers. It was a normal sack until fans started to realize Aaron Rodgers could not get back up to start walking again. Rodgers then received medical help and was walked off the field by team trainers. Zach Wilson, second string quarterback, then came into the game to replace Rodgers and got the job done with a final score of 22-16 against the Bills. 

The next day news came out that Aaron Rodgers had torn his achilles from the hit by Floyd, expecting Rodgers to miss the rest of the 2023-24 season. This left the football world in shock and the attention now turned to Zach Wilson, who had been very disappointing in the prior two seasons with only a 9-17 record. Now the real question is if Zach Wilson can lead the Jets to their first time in playoffs since 2010? Quarterback for the Monmouth Regional freshman football team and lifelong Jets fan, Divya Patel, says that “although Zach Wilson has a lot of pressure on him, I think he has the potential to lead the Jets to the playoffs.”

 Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift: Kelce and Swift currently are the most popular new couple in America. 

Starting week 2 of the NFL season rumors started to break out about two of the world's biggest stars having started seeing each other. Two time Superbowl champion tight end Travis Kelce is currently being talked about as being the best tight end of all time. Meanwhile, singer Taylor Swift just made 2023 one of the most memorable summers as she went on her Eras Tour (March 17 2023- November 23, 2024), which consisted of performing 146 times in front of a live audience.

The two being together was proven true in Week Three of the NFL, where the Kansas Chiefs squared off against the Chicago Bears on September 24th at the GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. People started to notice that Taylor Swift was in Kelce’s Arrowhead suite with Kelce’s mom, Donna Kelce. Travis Kelce and the Chiefs came out with the win with a final score of 41-10.

 However, during the game the broadcasting crew really only focused on Taylor Swift instead of the actual game. Fans noticed that after almost every play the broadcasters for the game were cutting the camera to Taylor Swift. The NFL and Sportscenter on Instagram posted numerous times about Taylor Swift being at the game. Many fans were upset with this and expressed hate towards Taylor Swift. Freshman Chiefs fan Lexi Rosenthal says how “it’s bad Taylor Swift fans are showing up to the game because they don’t know anything about the game.” Freshman Chelsea Seaman, who is a lifelong Taylor Swift fan, says how “it is a good thing that Taylor Swift fans are showing up to the game because it supplies more money for the NFL.” This is true because Travis Kelce jersey sales have gone up 400% (NFL Shop). People also have a few theories about this incident. Freshman Tayla Wigdortz says “Taylor Swift is just dating Travis Kelce to become more popular and is using this relationship to get into a Super Bowl Halftime Show performance.” Senior Aidan Steele also says that “the ‘Taylor Effect’ will boost morale with players until the couple breaks up but he worries that they are getting ridiculed so he is concerned about the team's outcome as a unit.”