Aaron Rodgers and the Mystery of the Sideline Tent
The Packers quarterback befuddled America when he disappeared inside a camping tent during Monday’s game
ENLARGE
What was Aaron Rodgers doing in that tent?
Audiences watching the Packers-Eagles Monday Night Football game were briefly mesmerized by a shot of the Green Bay quarterback disappearing in what appeared to be a weekend camping tent on the sideline.
Theories abounded as to why the tent was there and what Rodgers was doing:
1. Rustic NFL lavatory.
2. Deflating footballs.
3. Ghost stories.
4. Interviewing Mitt Romney.
5. ‘smores!
As it turned out, Rodgers was simply having a hamstring injury checked out and re-taped by the Packers’ trainers. He explained after the game:
“I had to drop my drawers a little bit to get taped up and just wanted to do (that) in the privacy of that tent,” Rodgers said.
The tents have been popping up on NFL and college football sidelines —college’s No. 1 team, Alabama, helped create and back a company, SidelinER, which makes them. The idea seems to be A) shield injured players and training staff and B) allow evaluations and treatments that have traditionally required a return to the locker room to happen on the field.
But they are curious, especially when a quarterback mysteriously walks into one in the middle of a prime-time football game.
Imagine Bill Belichick wandering into a tent midway through a game. Nobody would assume that dude was roasting marshmallows.
Write to Jason Gay at [email protected]