Aaron Rodgers went off the deep end Friday.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback condescendingly lashed out at “cancel culture,” the media and the NFL in response to this week’s revelation that Rodgers is unvaccinated against COVID-19 and that he lied publicly about his status when asked in August.
Rodgers, 37, who tested positive this week, said on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he is “in the crosshairs of the woke mob” and that he wanted to tell his side before “the final nail in my cancel-culture casket” is driven in.
The reigning NFL MVP said he has an allergy to an ingredient in mRNA vaccines, which is why he didn’t get the Pfizer or Modern COVID-19 vaccines. He cited the rare blood-clotting cases in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for why he didn’t receive that.
“I’m not some anti-vaxx flat-earther,” Rodgers said. He said he simply believes in “body autonomy.”
But he thanked his “now good friend, Joe Rogan,” the controversial podcast host who has had conspiracy theorist Alex Jones as a guest, for his advice on how to handle his positive test.
Rodgers also invoked Martin Luther King, saying every man has a moral responsibility not to follow unjust laws.
And he blasted the NFL for its COVID-19 protocols, calling them “draconian measures … not based on science” that are designed “to out and shame people.”
The NFL Players’ Association helped create the protocols with the NFL, and Rodgers is a player representative, so it’s misleading to suggest he didn’t have a part in creating the rules.
Rodgers lied in August when asked if he were vaccinated, answering that he was “immunized,” and implying that he was vaccinated while others on his team might not have been.
He angrily told the media to “quit lying about me” and spread misinformation that “this idea that it’s this pandemic of the unvaccinated is a total lie,” completely ignoring the science and data behind the spread and effects of COVID-19 with unvaccinated individuals compared to those who have the shot.
He admitted to violating mask-wearing protocols at press conferences because the rules “make no sense to me,” but said he’s followed all other NFL protocols for unvaccinated individuals.
The league is investigating Rodgers’ and the Packers’ adherence to protocols, and a large fine is expected for both the quarterback and the team.
Rodgers said when he appealed to the NFL to have his “homeopathic” treatments qualify him as vaccinated — treatments that “stimulate my immune system” — he didn’t think the league respected his research and the medical professionals he’d consulted.
“I think they thought I was a quack,” Rodgers said.
The Packers QB is out for Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. He said he has taken Ivermectin, monoclonal antibody treatment, zinc and Vitamin C and that he’s beginning to feel better.
But it’s never been clearer where the mercurial quarterback, long accused of being selfish and egotistical, stands in modern society.
