Aaron Rodgers records his own interviews to protect himself from reporters

Aaron Rodgers does plenty of media interviews; this should come as no surprise, as it comes with the territory of being one of the very best players at the most glamorous position in sports while playing for one of the best-known teams in the world.

What probably does come as the precautions that the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback takes to protect himself and his message when talking to reporters.

Most players probably don’t give an interview a second thought. Once the camera is out of their face, they move on to the next task, putting the exchange out of their minds.

Rodgers isn’t most players, though. In an interview with ESPN’s Dan Le Batard this week, Rodgers revealed an unusual idiosyncrasy: he apparently records all of his interviews.

Why? According to the quarterback himself, it is to prevent his words from being taken out of context, or rather to have a record of what the context was so that he can challenge any writer or reporter who does take his words out of context. Here is the direct quote from Rodgers, talking about how he approaches interviews:

I think you have to be wary. I think you have to approach every interview with a clear mind and think about what you want to say and what message you want to get out. I think it’s also important if you’re worried about getting taken out of context that you just record your interviews. It’s something I’ve been doing for a while now. I think it’s important to have that second recording so that (if) someone’s trying to take something you said out of context, you’re able to say wait, wait ...

... Natalie Portman actually did an interview a few years ago about it, and I thought it was an interesting idea. It’s a way that if you’re in a one-on-one situation, there’s no gray area. What you said is what you said and there’s not a way to take your words and move them around a little bit.

To be sure, Rodgers is and has always been careful about his public persona. He chooses his words carefully and thoughtfully, and he seems to have a specific set of scenarios in which he is comfortable in public. That includes events like golf tournaments, basketball games, and the like.

Still, this approach to his own interviews further illustrates the care with which Rodgers, and perhaps his agent David Dunn, maintain his public persona.

Here’s the clip from the Le Batard show, with the interview discussion coming around the 1:40 mark: