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Pittsburgh Steelers star Aaron Rodgers opened up about the altercation between DK Metcalf and a Detroit Lions fan on Wednesday after the wide receiver was suspended for two games.
Rodgers was talking to reporters and was asked whether a Lions fan had ever heckled him or made him feel a particular way over the years.
“Probably, I mean, I don’t have real relationships with any of those fans. Kind of by sight, there’s always a lot of different things that are said, some things that are benign, and some things that aren’t. I think there’s a mindset that you pay for a ticket, you say whatever the heck you want. I think there should be some code of conduct. Obviously, that was intentional, and I think there was some celebration afterwards on his part.
“Obviously, don’t condone what DK [Metcalf] did. I understand, you know, there’s been a lot of crazy comments said my way over the years. The truth is that that would never happen face to face. You know, even some of the people that hate me the most in the cities that I’ve played against over the years, especially in the NFC North, it’s always pretty cordial when you see some of those people out and about. But in that setting, you know, there’s a lot of things that are said. There’s two sides to every story. And I support DK. I’ll continue to support DK. And this point that happened.”
Rodgers said there were several factors as to why negative fan interactions have escalated over the years.
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He pointed to how fantasy football, sports gambling and social media use, while has some good, has all increased and come out of the shadows and into normal life.
“At the same time, as you see in parts of society erode, shall we say, maybe the conduct has changed a little bit over the years,” Rodgers said. “Now I’m all for good trash talk and, you know, Dawg Pound (in Cleveland) they got a great fan base. I love the banter with the fans. I was bantering with the fan in the stands the other day. He was yelling a bunch of stuff at me, and his voice cracked. I was teasing about that, but there’s a line, I think there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
“You don’t hear a lot of that playing in Lambeau over the years. Those are some of the nicest fans you could possibly imagine. You’re a visiting fan, you walk around the Lombardi there, you find your way into a tailgate. You probably have a beer in your hand, maybe PBR and brat, not the same everywhere across the league.”
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The Steelers will be without Metcalf for the rest of the season as Pittsburgh tries to clinch the AFC North.
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