Aaron Rodgers is still breaking the hearts of Wisconsin fans even after his massive offseason move to New York, which upset many die-hard cheesehead fans.
But this time it was what he didn’t do that hurt some of them.
Jack’s American Pub, a bar in Milwaukee, announced before the start of the regular season that they would be running a promotion that would provide any patron free drinks on their tab whenever the New York Jets lose a game the former Green Bay Packers star starts.
So Week 1 when the Jets battled their AFC East divisional rival Buffalo Bills in Rodgers’ debut game against superstar Josh Allen, droves of fans figured this would be a good chance to cash in on some free booze and root against their former hero.
When Aaron Rodgers went down with a torn Achilles tendon during the first drive of his Jets career, it only brought more optimism to the fans in the bar on Milwaukee’s east side, who quickly went to add more drinks to their tabs.
Aaron Rodgers Sticks It To Packers Fans
Surely Josh Allen, one of the league’s best signal-callers, who’s hungry for his first Super Bowl, would make quick work of a Jets team relying on Zach Wilson. Wilson expected to do no more than hold a clipboard and watch a legend work this season.
But in unbelievable fashion, Wilson hung in there and threw a touchdown, while the bar patrons’ “savior” Josh Allen threw three interceptions to the same guy, Jordan Whitehead, whose dominance cashed in a season incentive in his first game.
The Jets eventually won in overtime when punt returner Xavier Gipson took it to the house for a touchdown to end the game.
How Did Bar Hoppers React?
A.J. Bayatpour of Milwaukee’s CBS 58 captured the mood at Jack’s American Pub during and after the Jets’ stunning victory.
The Rodgers haters were salty after they realized that they were going to have to pay for all of the drinks that they presumed would be free.
“And the mood has changed considerably,” Bayatpour said after the game. “That is because the Jets just won the game on a long touchdown in overtime. Take a look. This is the reaction from a bar where people are realizing the bar tabs they’ve been racking up all night-thinking, certainly with Rodgers hurt, the bar was going to be paying that tab-it is setting in, they are going to have to go to the bar and pay that tab.”
Promotion Ends With Rodgers’ Season-Ending Injury
Adding insult to injury, the promotion that Jack’s American Pub was running will be discontinued since Rodgers Achilles injury has him out for the rest of the season.
So there will be no free booze in Wisconsin, but it’s unclear if they’re celebrating Rodgers’ injury either as it was a devastating one.
Jack’s owner Scott Schaefer told reporters he still wants to do a promotion related to the Jets.
“We’re going to try to do something else. We want to see what happens over the next couple of days,” he said. “There’s obviously talk out there that the Jets might … pick up another quarterback. So, we want to see what happens. We want to keep the promotion going, but in what form, we don’t know.”
