‘Bum’ Arkush Explains Why He Voted Kupp, Not Rodgers, MVP

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers received 39 of the 50 votes to win this year’s NFL MVP. Of the other 11 votes, 10 went to Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady.

The final vote went to Rams receiver Cooper Kupp. That vote was cast by Pro Football Weekly executive editor Hub Arkush, who infamously called Rodgers “the biggest jerk” in the league.

In an appearance on the Parkins and Spiegel Show on 670 The Score in Chicago on Tuesday, Arkush explained why he voted for Kupp and not Rodgers.

“At the end of the day, the idea that there was ever any personal bias is ridiculous. It’s subjective,” Arkush said. “There’s nothing that requires that the MVP be considered for on-the-field [actions] only. It’s not in the rules, it’s not in the instructions... I just looked at a long list of worth candidates this year. I would have no argument with Rodgers winning it, Brady winning it, Cooper Kupp winning it, Jonathan Taylor winning it and I could give you a few more...

“I purposefully looked beyond just the on-the-field stuff to see if there were any liabilities. Rodgers brought a ton of liabilities to the Packers this year, that was always my issue. He clearly is the MVP, I don’t dispute that in any way... It’s tremendously subjective and, you know, I think I got it right.”

The day after Arkush’s anti-Rodgers blast, Rodgers was ready with a response.

“I think he’s a bum. I think he’s an absolute bum,” Rodgers said on Jan. 5. “He doesn’t know me. I don’t know who he is – no one knew who he was, probably, until yesterday’s comments. I listened to the comments but to say he had his mind made up in the summertime, in the offseason, that I had zero chance of winning MVP, in my opinion, should exclude future votes.

“His problem isn’t with me being a bad guy or the biggest jerk in the league because he doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know me. Doesn’t know anything about me. I’ve never met him, I’ve never had lunch with him, I’ve never had an interview with him. His problem is I’m not vaccinated. So, if he wants to go on a crusade and collude and come up with an extra letter to put on the award just for this season and make it the Most Valuable Vaccinated Player.”

Both players had sensational seasons. Rodgers led the NFL in passer rating, touchdown percentage and interception percentage. Kupp led the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

Kupp was voted MVP of Sunday’s Super Bowl victory against the Rams. He scored two touchdowns and was Matthew Stafford’s go-to target on the final drive.

One: Aaron Rodgers Becomes Only Four-Time MVP

With last year’s MVP, Rodgers joined four legends as three-time MVPs: running back Jim Brown (1957, 1958, 1965), quarterback Johnny Unitas (1959, 1964, 1967), quarterback Brett Favre (1995 through 1997) and quarterback Tom Brady (2007, 2010, 2017).

With his fourth MVP, Rodgers has broken from that pack and is alone in second place. Peyton Manning won a record five MVPs – four with Indianapolis (2003, 2004, 2008 and 2009) and one with Denver (2013).

For Manning and Brady, their first MVP and last MVP were separated by 10 years. Rodgers’ fourth MVP comes 10 years after his first.

Two: Rodgers’ Red-Hot Finish

Rodgers put his stamp on the MVP race with a sensational finishing stretch to the season. Despite laboring through a broken toe that curtailed his practice time, Rodgers ended the season with seven consecutive games of two-plus touchdown passes and zero interceptions. That’s the second-longest streak in NFL history. In 2010, Tom Brady did it in nine consecutive games. Rodgers threw 20 touchdown passes during his streak, which he’ll carry into next season. Brady threw 24 touchdown passes.

Three: Rodgers Showed He’s Valuable, Part 1

Being MVP doesn’t simply mean having the best stats. It’s that middle letter – the “V” for Valuable. The Packers were the second-most-impacted team by injuries this season, according to ManGamesLost.com. In terms of the value of the player and the amount of games missed, David Bakhtiari was the most important injury of the NFL season, Za’Darius Smith was second and Jaire Alexander was ninth. Rodgers’ play obviously was an important part of the team’s 13-win season.

Four: Rodgers Showed He’s Valuable, Part 2

In games started and finished by Rodgers, the Packers went 13-2. The Packers went 0-2 with Jordan Love starting against Kansas City and playing the second half at Detroit.

Five: MVP? Yes. Super Bowl? No.

Incredibly, being the Most Valuable Player of the NFL season doesn’t mean being the Most Valuable Player of the NFL postseason. No MVP has won the award in the same year he won the Super Bowl since Kurt Warner with the St. Louis Rams in 1999.

Six: Rodgers Leads Three Key Categories

Last season, Rodgers joined Steve Young as the only quarterbacks since 1940 to win the Percentage Triple Crown of completion percentage, touchdown percentage and interception percentage on the way to leading the league in passer rating. This season, Rodgers finished third in completion percentage but was first again in touchdown percentage, interception percentage and passer rating.

That feat has been accomplished only five times since 1960: Rodgers in 2020 and 2021, Tom Brady in 2010, Young in 1992 and Ken Anderson in 1981.

Seven: Efficiency, Not Volume, Gives Rodgers MVP Edge Over Brady

The MVP debate between Rodgers and Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is fascinating. Brady put up some absurd numbers in leading the NFL with 5,316 passing yards and 43 touchdowns. The Buccaneers also went 13-4.

Brady crushed Rodgers (and everyone else) by the numbers because he threw 47 passes more than any other quarterback and 188 more passes Rodgers. Give Rodgers the same number of attempts as Brady, and Rodgers would have thrown for 5,572 yards and 50 touchdowns and beaten Brady’s completions record with 494.

Eight: Don’t Pick on Rodgers

There have been 13 seasons in which a quarterback threw at least 400 passes and finished the season with an interception percentage of less than 1.0. Rodgers has five of those seasons, including 2021, when he led the NFL with an interception rate of 0.75 percent. Tom Brady (twice) is the only other quarterback with multiple seasons.

Rodgers has finished with an interception rate of less than 1.0 percent four consecutive seasons. No other quarterback has even done it in back-to-back seasons.

Nine: In Good Hands with Rodgers

Perhaps Rodgers needs to switch insurance companies and pitch for the one that talks about being in good hands. Not only did he lead the NFL with only four interceptions, but he didn’t lose a fumble, either. That gave Rodgers a league-low four turnovers. Seattle’s Russell Wilson, who missed three games due to injury, was a distant second with seven.

Turnovers have to be a part of any conversation about the Packers’ quarterbacking future. In 561 passing plays (531 attempts, 30 sacks), Rodgers had just those four turnovers. In 65 passing plays, Jordan Love also had four turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble).

Ten: Touchdown-to-Interception Ratio Champion

With 37 touchdowns vs. four interceptions, Rodgers threw 9.25 touchdown passes for every interception, more than double Kirk Cousins’ runner-up 4.71 (33 touchdowns, seven interceptions). That’s the seventh-best mark in NFL history. In NFL history, there have been 12 seasons in which a quarterback had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of at least 6.50. Rodgers has half of those seasons, including four in a row.

If there’s one stat you take from this, here it is: There have been six seasons in NFL history of 6.50 touchdowns per interception and 4,000-plus passing yards. Rodgers has all six.

Quote to Note

“There’s obviously a faction, based on the response when I tested positive, that want to demonize me for my decision to be unvaccinated. That’s the environment that we’re living in. There is not room for dissenting opinions or individual freedoms or people to have a different view. … I think the MVP should be about the most valuable player on the team. A lot of times it goes to the best player on the best team, and we’re the best team. So, if voters want to use the offseason or don’t like my stance being unvaccinated, that’s their prerogative. I don’t think it’s right, but that’s their prerogative.”

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