Aaron Rodgers Is Back and Adam Schefter’s Original Report Was Accurate: TRAINA THOUGHTS

1. The biggest story in sports over the past few months came to a conclusion Tuesday morning when Aaron Rodgers strolled into Packers camp wearing an Office T-shirt.

Rodgers’s future has generated tons of coverage ever since Adam Schefter reported on April 29 that the future Hall of Fame quarterback was unhappy with the organization.

The story was a true gift to sports media outlets that have to generate content 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

From a media standpoint, the ideal ending to this saga would’ve been Rodgers's getting traded or retiring, but instead we got him just casually walking into the team’s facility like nothing happened.

Rodgers’s return has led to some uninformed people bashing Schefter for starting this mess.

The truth is, Adam Schefter’s original report was correct and it took the Packers and Rodgers renegotiating his contract to get him back in the fold.

Here’s what Schefter said the day of the NFL draft:

“Aaron Rodgers has told certain members of the organization that he does not want to return to the Green Bay Packers.”

Schefter later added, “We have a standoff here that nobody knows exactly where it’s going.”

The standoff ended this weekend thanks to Green Bay giving Rodgers contract flexibility.

Of course we live in a time where people can’t hold two separate thoughts at once. Aaron Rodgers is back AND Adam Schefter’s original report was accurate.

But many people can’t seem to grasp that.

Here’s the other thing these people are clueless about: Do you think Schefter’s original report came from people in Green Bay’s camp or Rodgers’s camp? Do you think it’s any coincidence that Schefter had this report considering Schefter and Rodgers are represented by the same agency, CAA?

Do you think Rodgers added fuel to the fire barely saying anything as all this played out? He could’ve easily ended the speculation by saying he was showing up to camp. But he didn’t. You know why? Because Schefter’s original report was correct, and Rodgers wasn’t going to attend camp until he got some concessions.

2. Via John Ourand and Sports Business Journal: "On the first three nights, primetime viewers across NBC’s linear TV channels, digital apps and streaming service dropped 34%, 26% and 36%, respectively. Given such hefty drops in the event’s first three nights, it will be difficult for NBC to recover."

3. The ending to Monday night's Reds-Cubs game had some electricity with Javy Baez stroking a game-winning hit off Amir Garrett, and then staring him down while doing all sorts of gestures toward the pitcher.

4. There was also electricity in Seattle, where the Mariners erased a 7–0 Astros lead to win 11–8 thanks to a Dylan Moore grand slam in the bottom of the eighth.

The homer and stunning comeback were too much for Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford to handle.

5. I was stunned to see that so many NFL players are vaccinated, but also disappointed that so many clubs still have a long way to go.

6. The latest SI Media Podcast dropped Thursday morning, and it features an interview with Lindsay Czarniak. The veteran sportscaster talks about her daily Olympics show on Peacock, On Her Turf, shares her thoughts on women trying to break through in sports media and discusses the Maria Taylor–Rachel Nichols controversy.

This episode kicks off with the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. We talked about the forthcoming Peyton-Eli Monday Night Football broadcast, Tom Brady’s White House visit, Ted Lasso and the worst songs of all time.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: This is not a Rick Roll. Given this news ...

It seems appropriate to remember the time Rick Astley joined Foo Fighters onstage to perform "Never Gonna Give You Up."

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.