Aaron Rodgers Drops Some Pop Culture Bombshells

Also in Traina Thoughts: Brand-new ‘SI Media With Jimmy Traina’ podcast; Stephen A. Smith goes off; live MLB report gets tense and more.

1. In Wednesday’s Traina Thoughts, I dropped in an item about Aaron Rodgers being a big Jersey Shore fan.

When I initially saw the tweet with this information, I was concerned Rodgers would cite Jersey Shore as something he knows about New Jersey instead of The Sopranos.

Sure enough, my worst fears were realized when Rodgers revealed in a new interview with SiriusXM's Adam Schein that he's never watched the greatest show in television history.

"I never really got into Sopranos," Rodgers told Schein, "which is crazy because I’ve watched all the other mob movies, you know, Godfather, Casino, Goodfellas, on and on. Never really got into Sopranos, though.

Obviously, this is disappointing, disheartening and, quite frankly, disgraceful. Does Rodgers know there was an episode in which Tony did ayahuasca?

Anyway, I'm not going to bash Rodgers too much, though, because he did say he's open to finally watching the HBO megahit.

“I would try it. I’d be up for trying it, for sure,” Rodgers said. “I just, I’m kind of a one-show-at-a-time type of guy. And I think there was, that was the time I guess I feel like Lost was going on maybe during that time and Entourage and some other things.

“So I’m kind of a one-show-at-a-time type of guy, so I just didn’t have the time. Like I said, I don’t watch a lot of TV. I didn’t have the time to kind of binge that show. But I mean, I bet I’d love it, because it’s one of the iconic shows of our generation.”

When pressed by Schein to try The Sopranos, Rodgers said, “I’ll give you a strong maybe that I’ll get into that.”

While I'm with Rodgers on being a one-show-at-a-time guy, watching Entourage over The Sopranos is just sad. But Rodgers does have a track record of knowing good TV because he not only loves The Office, but he even appeared on the show.

Rodgers may not be able to start binging The Sopranos this weekend, though, because he told Schein he'll be attending one of the Taylor Swift concerts in Jersey.

When asked whether he was a Swiftie, Rodgers didn’t go that far, saying, “I’m a fan, big fan.”

As for his favorite T-Swift song, Rodgers gave a thorough breakdown. 

"It's tough. It's really tough. I think my favorite album is Folklore and my favorite song off that album is probably “August.” And my favorite music video is ‘I Bet You Think About Me.’”

During the interview, Rodgers also said he was a big fan of Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi.

2. A brand-new SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped today, and this week’s show features two interviews.

First up is WWE legend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Austin discusses his new show on A&E, Stone Cold Takes on America, what he thinks of the current WWE story line involving Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, and his feelings on CM Punk’s status with AEW. 

Austin also reminisces about his legendary career, sharing his thoughts on the biggest pop he ever got from a WWE crowd and sharing a never-before-told story about how he ended up making so much money off his famous “Austin 3:16” shirt.

Following Austin, The Athletic's Richard Deitsch joins the podcast at the 31-minute mark for a discussion on the latest sports media news. Topics covered include flex scheduling coming to Thursday Night Football and Amazon Prime, why ESPN can never close the gap with TNT when it comes to NBA studio shows, what ESPN going direct-to-consumer means, the NBA’s possible return to NBC and much more.

Following Deitsch, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, I give a recap of my night at the Sports Emmys before Sal and I talk about Jersey Shore, Taylor Swift and horrible experiences trying to book guests. The segment closes with Sal’s explaining why he doesn’t want to go to baseball games anymore.

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

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

3. This is an A+ monologue by Stephen A. Smith on Lakers star Anthony Davis unfollowing the ESPN host on social media.

4. NBC sent out a press release Wednesday to let everyone know that Sunday Night Football was the No. 1 show for the 12th year in a row for the 2022–23 television season. NBC also included this fun chart on shows that had long runs at No. 1.

• 12 years in a row: Sunday Night Football (2011–12 through ’22–23)

• 6 years in a row: American Idol (2005–06 through ’10–11)

• 5 years in a row: The Cosby Show (1985–86 through ’89–90 … tied Cheers in ’89–90)

• 5 years in a row: All in the Family (1971–72 through ’75–76)

• 4 years in a row: Gunsmoke (1957–58 through ’60–61)

5. Bally Sports Detroit reporter Johnny Kane had an issue with a cursing fan in Kansas City last night, which led to this amusing moment.

6. Those Philly fans are tough.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Tina Turner was an absolute powerhouse, as proved in her duet with Bryan Adams on “It’s Only Love.”

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.