ESPN host Mike Greenberg struggled to keep his emotions in check during Tuesday morning’s broadcast of “Get Up,” responding to the season-ending injury that took quarterback Aaron Rodgers out of his Monday night debut game with the New York Jets.
Greenberg got a few beats into his opening monologue before calling everything to a halt, saying that he could not “pretend this is a normal morning” and just get through it.
WATCH:
Mike Greenberg can't even get through the Get Up intro because of Aaron Rodgers' injury in the season opener. pic.twitter.com/1Jv1oDdBEc
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 12, 2023
The show seemed to begin as usual, but after a few lines, Greenberg paused and then redirected. “Alright, I can’t do this. I just can’t … Stop it. Kill the music; kill the graphics; kill the video.”
“I can’t pretend this is alright. I cannot pretend this is a normal morning. I cannot do the big voice. I cannot pretend the energy is here,” he continued. “I’m sorry. I said I’m going to try and do the show normal today but these are not normal circumstances.”
Greenberg went on to say that he had still not really been able to process what had happened the night before, just four plays into Rodgers’ first game with his new team.
Rodgers was initially pulled from the game after he was tackled by Buffalo Bills edge rusher Leonard Floyd, and after negative x-rays, officials feared an Achilles injury. That was later confirmed, along with the Jets’ worst fears that Rodgers was likely out for the entirety of the season.
Greenberg said he certainly understood the fans who wanted to blame the turf — or blame anyone or anything — for what had happened, but that sometimes football was just going to be football.
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.@Espngreeny reacts to Aaron Rodgers' injury:
"I want more than anyone to be furious today, but the reality is, sometimes things just happen. … The idea that his season would be over in four plays never entered my mind." pic.twitter.com/UzR6nZiG9r
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) September 12, 2023
“I want more than anyone to be furious today, but the reality is, sometimes things just happen. There isn’t really anyone to be mad at,” he said. “Football is inherently a violent and dangerous game, injuries are going to take place 100% of the time, and you just have to hope if you are a fan that yours is not the team whose season is destroyed by an injury.”
“The idea that his season would be over in four plays never entered my mind,” he said.