It may not have been a darkness retreat, but Aaron Rodgers and WFAN’s Gregg Giannotti had their proper cleanse Tuesday morning of their “most awkward, horrible” interview last year.
Rodgers joined “Boomer & Gio” for a live hit during Jets training camp and the trio seemingly buried the hatchet after last year’s cringefest.
“Aaron, thank you. This was so much better than last year. I couldn’t forget about that interview last year for like a full year and I’m like cleansed now,” Giannotti said after their nearly 30-minute interview from the Jets’ facility in Florham Park, N.J. “I needed this, so thank you.”
Giannotti and partner Boomer Esiason interviewed Rodgers last year in advance of his first season with Gang Green and the segment went about as well as the quarterback’s team debut.
Rodgers arrived late to the interview due to traffic, which also had him in a foul mood.
That set the mood for a tough interview, with Rodgers unwilling to go along with questions about the New Jersey mansion he purchased.
The experience left a poor taste in Giannotti’s mouth, with the host recently labeling it the “most awkward, horrible 18 minutes” in the show’s seven-year history.
“I’d rather you interview Aaron Rodgers than us after what happened last year,” Giannotti told fill-in host Jon “Stugotz” Weiner in late July.
“And I’m dead serious about that. I don’t need another crack at that. I’m fine. Honestly, you can have that, I don’t need to interview him again.”
He added: “I don’t think he ever looked at us. Not one time … It was a combination of everything. It was him being upset, us freaking out when he wasn’t playing along. The whole thing was just turds in a blender.”
Tuesday’s interview started on a “much better” foot, as noted by Esiason, since Rodgers showed up with a smile on his face after a peaceful commute.
“Last year, you probably don’t remember, we do, because it’s ingrained in my memory forever, you walked in, you were in like two hours of traffic, there were three jackknife tractor-trailers, you walked in and … you sat down and you weren’t having it,” Giannotti said. “So, today, we got a big smile…
“I wasn’t (pleased),” Rodgers said, confirming his displeasure. “I’m telling you life, if you set it up the right way. Now, I don’t even get on the freeway anymore in the morning, I have a nice little drive, I can listen to whatever the hell I want and now I get in and am in a good mood. Didn’t sit one damn minute in traffic. You’re always moving, nice little side streets, you got a stop sign every now and then, people walking dogs out there. Not just on highway (truck beep sounds twice), chaos. Yeah.”
With Rodgers in a good mood, the show touched on a variety of topics, including his much-publicized trip to Egypt, the upcoming autobiography from which The Post has been sharing exclusive excerpts and whether he believes he needs preseason reps in his return from a torn Achilles.
While Giannotti thanked Rodgers as the interview concluded, the four-time MVP acknowledged it took two to tango and produce terrible radio.
“Listen, it wasn’t you,” Rodgers said. “It’s not you.”
Giannotti responded: “Well, part of it was. It was all of us. It was a collective effort. We were off our game, it was horrible.”
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