UPDATE (11/9/21): Rodgers made a follow-up appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, this one much less combative and defensive.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has outed himself as a delusional, pathetic, stupid person. He made the announcement Friday in a rambling interview on The Pat McAfee Show.
Rodgers’ comments covered seemingly everything on the delusional, pathetic, stupid person Bingo card: complaints about the “woke mob” and “cancel culture,” boasts of “doing his own research,” the perennial “If the vaccine is so great, why can vaccinated people still get COVID?” question, Trump, and taking medical advice from—you guessed it—Joe Rogan. Good lord.
Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. Despite Rodgers’ earlier statement that he was “immunized,” it was later revealed that he had not, in fact, received a COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s some of what Rodgers had to say Friday:
I realize I’m in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now. So before my final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I think I’d like to set the record straight on so many of the blatant lies that are out there about myself right now. I appreciate the opportunity to tell my story on here. First of all, I didn’t lie in the initial press conference. During that time, it was a very, you know, witch hunt that was going on across the league where everybody in the media was so concerned about who was vaccinated and who wasn’t, and what that meant and who was being selfish and who would talk about it, what it meant if they said it’s a personal decision, they shouldn’t have to disclose their own medical information and whatnot. And at the time, my plan was to say that I’ve been immunized. It wasn’t some sort of ruse or lie, it was the truth. I’ll get into the whole immunization in a second.
Had there been a follow-up to my statement that I’ve been immunized, I would have responded with this: I would have said, look, I’m not, you know, some sort of anti-vax flat earther. I am somebody who’s a critical thinker. You guys know me, I march to the beat of my own drum. I believe strongly in bodily autonomy and the ability to make choices for your body, not to have to acquiesce to some woke culture, or crazed, you know, group of individuals who say you have to do something. Health is not a one-size-fits-all for everybody.
And for me, it involved a lot of study in the offseason, much like the study I put into hosting Jeopardy or the weekly study I put into the playing of the game. I put a lot of time and energy in research, and met with a lot of different people in the medical field to get the most information about the vaccines before making a decision. And in actuality, it was pretty easy in the beginning to eliminate two of them. And it didn’t involve going into the questionable history of some of their criminal activities and fraud cases or any of that stuff. It was simply the fact that I have an allergy to an ingredient that’s in the mRNA vaccines.
So on the CDC’s own website, it says should you have an allergy to any of the ingredients, you should not get one of the mRNA vaccines, so those two were out already. So my only option was Johnson & Johnson. At this time, in the early spring, I had heard of multiple people who had had adverse events around getting the J&J. No deaths or anything, but just some really difficult times and physical abnormalities around the J&J shot. And then in mid-April the J&J shot got pulled for clotting issues, if you remember that. So the J&J shot was not even an option at that point.
So then my options became okay, what can I do to protect myself and my teammates if there’s not one of the big three options for me in my own body? So I looked into and talked again to a lot of medical individuals and professionals and found that there was an immunization protocol that I could go to to best protect myself and my teammates. It was a long term protocol that involved you know, multiple months, and I’m very proud of the research that went into that and, you know, the individuals that I met with, and felt like it was what was best for me.
It was not, again, something that the league didn’t know about. The league was fully aware of it upon my return to the Packers, and it was at that point that I petitioned them to accept my immunization status as under their vaccination protocol. Now, at the time they had only had the big three which was what they were going to do, and if you weren’t in the vaccinated category, you were in a different category, which involved some draconian measures and protocols that you would have to adhere to, which in my opinion, were not based on science, were more based in a shame-based environment to try and get as many guys to get vaccinated as possible so that the league looks better to the rest of the world. That was the focus of these protocols, which I’ll get into when I when I finish this diatribe here about the petition.
So I petitioned the league. Initially, they returned and said, no, you’ll be in the unvaccinated category. I also said how come there’s no exemptions for medical exemptions, religious exemptions, pre-existing conditions? And they basically said, look, those are all basically exempted, but you would be put in the non-vaccinated category. I’ll get into what that meant from a scheduling standpoint shortly, but there wasn’t any way of getting around that in their minds.
So after they came back and said, no, you’re unvaxxed, I said, okay, I’m gonna appeal this. And so we went through the process, which was a multi-week process where I asked them for time to gather information. I gathered over 500 pages of research on the efficacy of immunizations. All the latest research surrounding my case. Everything from mask wearing to the efficacy of the vaccines and the duration of the antibodies. Just all the latest research that I was getting from my medical team. In that process we had many conversations. I enjoyed the conversations with the league, it was good sharing. But one moment in particular stood out when I knew I was not going to win this. I had a meeting and they said one of the main docs said it’s impossible for a vaccinated person to get COVID or spread COVID. And at that point, I knew that I was definitely not going to win the appeal. And it was very shortly thereafter that they denied. We now know that information is totally false that was given to me.
You know, my desire to immunize myself was what was best for my body. And that’s why this is so important to me. My medical team advised me that the danger of an adverse event was greater than the risk of getting COVID and recovering. So I made a decision that was in the best interest of my body. I’m not telling somebody to not get vaccinated or to get vaccinated. I think you should do what’s in the best interest of your body. If you’re scared of COVID or you have COVID morbidities, then getting vaxxed is probably your best option. But if you have an immunocompromised system, or if you have previous conditions, then make the decision that’s in your best interest. And that’s what I did. I made the decision that was in my best interest.
And the other part to it, I’ve talked about this on the show, but the next great chapter in my life is being a father. It’s something that I care about a lot. And to my knowledge there has been zero long-term studies around sterility or fertility issues around the vaccines. So that was definitely something that I was worried about, and that went through my mind. Now obviously, having you know, an allergy to an ingredient took me off of being able to take the mRNA anyway, but that even if I didn’t have that, that would be something that would give me a little bit of pause because we don’t know what the long-term effects of these are. There’s still clinical trials going on in 2023. So when people say just get the jab, just get the jab…well, first of all, everybody’s body is different, and second of all, there’s a lot of things we don’t know about this.
This is one thing I really want to stress, that again, the organization knew exactly what my status was, my teammates knew what my status was. There was nothing that was hidden. During the time of preseason was during the time of the appeal. I thought actually, at various times, I was going to win the appeal. And I think that people said I’d wear a mask during the preseason. I think some of the rules, to me, are not based in science at all. They’re based purely in trying to out and shame people. Like needing to wear a mask at a podium when every person in the room is vaccinated and wearing a mask makes no sense to me. If you got vaccinated to protect yourself from a virus that I don’t have as an unvaccinated individual, then why are you worried about anything I can give you?
[…]
I just want to say, you know, that is what the media has been trying to do. They’re trying to shame and out and cancel all of us non-vaccinated people, call us selfish. I mean, that’s the propaganda line: you’re selfish for making a decision that’s in the best interest of your body. I’ve already spelled out, which I shouldn’t have to, but I’ve already spelled out the issues of my own personal body and my own personal health. I have issues related to ingredients in the mRNA vaccines, and that the J&J got pulled, not to mention the numerous issues with the J&J vaccine to this day, that I went out and on my own, paid for good research and went out and did an immunization protocol that’s been used, and has been around for centuries, and the doctors that I consulted with have been doing this for decades. The same type of stuff for children and adults who are immunocompromised.They have reasons and conditions or reasons that they cannot take traditional vaccines. The league didn’t offer any opportunity for, you know, alternative medicines or treatments as I’ll get into.
I think the thing that is so disappointing is that it was not just that, but it was the coercion and the collusion you know, of the GM saying they’re not gonna to sign non-vaccinated players, and the coercion for player 54 through 90 who thinks if I don’t make this squad that I’m on now in training camp and I’m not vaxxed, my career is over. So there wasn’t even opportunities.
Workers in those same environments had no opportunity, workers at the facilities, and it’s happened all over the country. You’re seeing these mandates for firefighters, and policemen and government workers who are saying, well, no, it’s you know, what about my body my choice? What about making the best decision for my own circumstance and that, again, that help is not a one-size-fits-all thing? I guess that’s the thing that’s most disappointing. Look at our squad, we’ve had, you know, on the second non-vaxxed player to test positive. It’s pretty evident I tested positive being around a vaccinated individual. I mean, that’s the majority of people I spend time with. There’s been dozens of individuals that work at the facility that are vaxxed, that tested positive. So this idea that it’s a pandemic of the unvaccinated, it’s just a total lie.
And I go back to like these two questions for this woke mob. Number one, if the vaccine is so great, then how come people are still getting COVID and spreading COVID? And unfortunately dying from COVID. Like, if the vaccine is so safe, then how come the manufacturers of the vaccine have full immunity? So let’s just step back and realize this vaccine is revolutionary, the things that they’re doing. However, we don’t know a whole lot about it. And to just say there’s a blanket for all that ails you, in my opinion, is wrong and reckless. And for the media out there taking shots at me, you don’t know my story. Now you do. So quit lying about me. Personal health decisions in my opinion should be private. And they shouldn’t have to be like gone through the wringer and over-scrutinized by, you know, people who are just pushing their own type of propaganda on the people and ideal. You want to have a conversation about it? I’m more than willing to have a conversation about it.
But bodily autonomy is a right, and the shaming and the outing that you know, people seem to get off on so much, finding these people who are like ho ho, my God, can you believe these crackpots who are not vaccinated? Everybody has their own story. Everybody has their own story and their own issues and their own reasons for doing things. But this shaming, cancel society, that is wrong. And I made a choice that was in my best interest. You might respect it. You might hate it. But I bet you the same people that hate it are the same people that are really going to hate the fact that I’m 48 hours in, and I consulted with a now good friend of mine Joe Rogan, after he got COVID, and I’ve been doing a lot of the stuff that he recommended in his podcasts and on the phone to me. I’m going to have the best immunity possible now based on the 2.5 million person study from Israel, that the people who get COVID and recover have the most robust immunity. And I’m thankful for people like Joe stepping up and using their voice. I’m thankful for my medical squad. And I’m thankful for all the love and support I’ve gotten, but I’ve been taking monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin, zinc, vitamin C and HCQ And I feel pretty incredible.
[…]
I really felt like at the time, there was a time and a place for sharing of information. It was such a witch hunt. They wanted to out and shame and denigrate every single person who didn’t mean immediately say, oh, yeah, I got the, you know, the Pfizer, I got the Moderna, whatever. I wanted it to go away. I mean, everyone in the squad knew I was not vaccinated. Everyone in the organization knew I wasn’t vaccinated. I wasn’t hiding if from anybody. I was trying to minimize and mitigate having had this conversation that would go on and on. And there were people in the media, who somehow found out about it, and had been sitting on it for a couple months. So it wasn’t like this thing was just hidden until this week. People knew and they sat on it. At some point I knew I was gonna have to discuss it. And, you know, I was ready to discuss it.
But the problem with this is it is so political, and health should not be political. It shouldn’t be that ,you know, Trump endorsed ivermectin and HCQ. And so take that shit off, it doesn’t work. You know?
I mean, in general, look, I think we all should have been a little hesitant when Trump in 2020 was championing these vaccines that were coming so quick. What did the left say? And I’m talking about every member of the left. “Don’t trust the vaccine, don’t get the vaccine, you’re going to die from the vaccine.” And then what happened? Biden wins and everything flips. Shouldn’t that initially give you a little bit of pause and go, hold on a second, isn’t this shit about health and not about politics? And so that point, has any member of the health staff this entire time, got up and actually talked about real health? Have they talked about exercise, a healthy diet, like eating real food, drinking water, taking vitamins, vitamin D deficiency, and what that causes in the body? No, there hasn’t been any of that.
Look, I’m going to critically think about what’s best for my own health. I’m not judging anybody. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do this, and you shouldn’t do that. But I’m making the decision that’s based on what’s best for me and my own health. And for me, it was a no-brainer.
[…]
I would, you know, add this to the mix, as an aside. The great MLK said you have a moral obligation to object to unjust rules, and rules that make no sense. In my opinion, it makes no sense for me. I test every single day. Every single day. So we play in Arizona on Thursday, we come back, guys leave for the weekend, I don’t. We test every single day, right? Early in the morning. If I test in the morning, and I wear a mask in the entire facility, and you want me to wear a mask, just to shame me that I’m not vaccinated, to continue to perpetuate a story that I’m not vaccinated, in a room where the only way you can get in that room is if you’re fully vaccinated against a virus that I don’t have as a non-vaccinated person. Not to mention, you’re sitting more than six feet away from me, in most cases, at least 20 feet away from me. Where’s the science in that? Where’s the science in that that says oh, that makes perfect sense. So it was my opinion that that wasn’t rooted in the science. Every other protocol I followed to the T.