Aaron Rodgers, quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, made another podcast appearance and revealed something new.
On Saturday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the topic inevitably turned to COVID-19 and Rodgers’ refusal to get vaccinated.
The four-time NFL MVP told Rogan that he first sought an exemption from the league’s vaccination requirement, then sought approval for an alternative homeopathic immunization process, which was denied.
He later admitted that he purposefully misled the media about his vaccination status last season.
“I’d been ready the entire time for this question, and had thought about how I wanted to answer it. And I had come to the conclusion I’m gonna say, ‘I’ve been immunized.’ And if there’s a follow-up, then talk about my process,” Rodgers told Rogan (at the 11:35 mark of the video below).
“But, (I) thought there’s a possibility that I say ‘I’m immunized,’ maybe they understand what that means, maybe they don’t. Maybe they follow up. They didn’t follow up. So then I go the season them thinking, some of them, that I was vaccinated.”
Rodgers did, however, add to the confusion about his vaccination status by attending press conferences without a mask, which only vaccinated players were permitted to do.
Rodgers was later fined by the team for attending a Halloween party with 18 other vaccinated teammates.
Later in the season, Rodgers tested positive for COVID – he said he got it from a fully vaccinated teammate – and missed one game due to league protocols.
“I knew at some point if I contracted COVID or if word got out, because it’s the NFL and there’s leaks everywhere, it was possible I’d have to answer the questions,” he said.
“And that’s when the (expletive) storm hit, because now I’m a liar, I’m endangering the community, my teammates, all these people. And the, you know, attempted takedown of me and, you know, my word and my integrity began.”
