Aaron Rodgers has nearly two million followers on Twitter. And despite the airtight logic, thoughtful consideration and generally sensible awareness that typically abound on social media, once in a while, some things get misunderstood and some people get bewildered.
Such was the case Monday night when Rodgers posted a few disturbingly profound ruminations that quickly sent the internet – especially Packers Twitter – into a concerned, confused, chaotic commotion.
As he’s done at various times in previous offseasons, the Green Bay quarterback tweeted several "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey," those succinctly witty and absurdly bizarre conceptual one-liner jokes cherished on "Saturday Night Live" in the 1990s.
Rodgers, who’s often expressed his fondness for cult movies like "The Princess Bride" and has stated his desire to host "SNL" – and whose default Twitter persona is comedic – sent out a string of no-context-given Deep Thoughts.
Most people don't realize that large pieces of coral, painted brown & attached 2 the skull by wood screws, can make a child look like a deer — Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) March 15, 2016
If u ever teach a yodeling class, the hardest thing is to keep the students from just trying to yodel right off. You see, we build to that. — Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) March 15, 2016
If you had a school for professional fireworks people, I don't think you could cover fuses in just one class. It's just too rich a subject. — Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) March 15, 2016
Gunslinger? More like gag-slinger! Signal-caller? Try side-splitter! OK, sorry.
Rodgers also managed to include one of his usual digs at Tom Crabtree, a former teammate and tatted-up Foo Fighters-lover who played tight end for Green Bay from 2009-2012 and has an even funnier Twitter account. (Seriously, @itsCrab is a hilarious must-follow, for both his sharp NFL takes and eclectic appreciation of music.)
Rodgers’ tweets got the expectedly baffled and negative reactions from some fans (they were shared about 4,000 times; the hundreds of replies were split between bemusement and appreciation), but it’s worth noting that this Deep Thoughts foray isn’t new.
It's funny that pirates were always going around searching for treasure.... — Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) April 20, 2015
...and they never realized that the real treasure was the fond memories they were creating. — Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) April 20, 2015
I think somebody should come up with a way to breed a very large shrimp...... — Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) January 20, 2013
....That way, you could ride him, then after you camped at night, you could eat him. How about it, science? — Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) January 20, 2013
Deep thoughts, indeed. Here’s hoping that next time Rodgers has fun at the Twitterverse's expense, he does it with our favorite Jack Handey musing.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
