Erin Andrews is firing back at the critics who are calling her out for hugging Aaron Rodgers. On Christmas Day, the Dancing with the Stars alum and Fox Sports sideline reporter interviewed Rodgers after the Green Bay Packers defeated the Seattle Seahawks. Once the interview was over, Andrews and Rodgers hugged, which made some people upset. She recently talked about it on her podcast Clam Down.
“I pretty much have hugged Rodgers since I started covering the NFL. He’s been a good friend of mine for the last 15 years,” Andrews said, per BroBible. “It was so funny because the people close to me in my life like my family or other quarterbacks I know or other players are like ‘Why is this a big deal?’”
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“I loved Pat McAfee for joking around with him, and being like, ‘You two gotta stop hugging,’” Andrews continued, per the New York Post. “And I loved when Aaron kinda said she’s my friend. It’s also like him mentioning that he hugs other guys, opposing players and I was like ‘yeah! I’m looked at like one of the guys!’”
Andrews went on to explain she has hugged several players over the years. “Sunday, I hadn’t seen Odell [Beckham Jr.] and he ran over by me and he looked so happy and I just said, ‘God I miss that smile,’ and he was like good to see you and gave me a hug. I gave Von Miller a hug because he did Dancing With the Stars,” she said.”A lot of people forget, we’re with these guys 18 weeks out of the year. We see them all the time, we’re with them during the highs and lows of their career. I’m grateful for the access they’ve given me. I’ve got to tell you, for the first time, whether you want to call Rodgers a lightning rod for his stance on COVID, I don’t want to get into that — what I’m getting involved in is sports. I was pumped he broke [Brett Favre’s Packers touchdown pass] record.”
Andrews revealed that she will cover Rodgers and the Packers on Saturday night when they take on the San Francisco 49ers. If the Packers win, Andrews will likely interview Rodgers, which will lead to another hug.
