Aaron Rodgers celebrates Braun ruling

INDIANAPOLIS -- In December, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers issued a passionate defense of Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, a close friend whom Major League Baseball had suspended 50 games for violating the game's substance-abuse policy. So when Braun won his appeal of the suspension Thursday, Rodgers vented via Twitter.

A sampling:

"MLB and cable sports tried to sully the reputation of an innocent man. Picked the wrong guy to mess with. Truth will set u free #exonerated"

"When its guilty until proven innocent, all u need are the facts. #howsthecrowmlb #exonerated"

The public portion of this story began in December when ESPN reported Braun's positive test. Rodgers implied he knew the full story during his initial defense in December, saying: "I am 100 percent supporting him and am behind him and believing everything that he says."

Responding Thursday to followers who suggested Braun was exonerated on a technicality, Rodgers tweeted: "I'll let my buddy take it from here. All u idiots talking about technicality open up for some crow too. See if Espn gets pressured not to let the people hear the truth. Should get interesting. #exonerated #shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

I don't want to wade into this issue on a football blog other than to say that this episode is fair warning for anyone who goes after one of Aaron Rodgers' friends. Yeesh.


(espn.com)