President Obama Says He’s Like ‘Aaron Rodgers In The Pocket’ In An Interview With Bill Simmons

Despite the fall of Grantland, things seems to be going pretty well for Bill Simmons recently. His new podcast is doing great, he’s got a shiny new show coming to HBO, and on top of it all, he scored another interview with Barack Obama for GQ that came out on Tuesday.

The whole thing is a pretty interesting read as Simmons chats with Obama about topics ranging from Ferguson, to social media, to the list of people he would have to take a phone call from during a date with Michelle, but being two big sports fans, it’s no surprise that Simmons and Obama dove into the sports world quite a few times, as well.

When talking about his ability to stay even keeled, Simmons compared the president to Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, but Obama said he’s actually more like a certain MVP-winning quarterback.

Yeah. Or maybe [Aaron] Rodgers in the pocket, in the sense of you can’t be distracted by what’s around you, you’ve got to be looking downfield. And I think that’s a quality that I have—not getting flustered in what’s around me.

Obama also revealed (unsurprisingly considering his Chicago fandom) that he watches ESPN Classic games of Michael Jordan while working out,  and he spoke about how he uses MJ’s ability to move on to the next play as inspiration.

… a thing that you’re reminded of, watching those old Bulls games, is Jordan had some stinker games in the playoffs. But he would get that out of his mind, and then the next moment comes and he’s right there. He could have a terrible game for the first three quarters and then suddenly go crazy the fourth. Or he might miss a free throw, and then the next play is he’s stealing the ball and hitting the game-winning shot. Part of what I try to do—not at the level that Jordan did on the basketball court, but part of what you aspire to as president or any of these positions of leadership—is to try to figure out how to be in the moment, make the best decision you can, know that you’re going to get a bunch of them right, but a bunch of times you’re also not going to get it exactly the way you want it.

Other sports questions Simmons asked Obama included if he would want to own an NBA franchise, who is more un-tradable between Jay Cutler and Derrick Rose, and Roger Goodell’s true motives. You can read the whole thing over at GQ.

(Via GQ)

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