Aaron Rodgers, the reigning league MVP, has been in the headlines all week after it was revealed earlier this week he was in the NFL’s Covid protocol and was already ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Chiefs.
Because he was ruled out so quickly, people immediately began questioning his vaccination status. If a player is vaccinated, he can enter and exit the Covid protocol in as little as a few days, but if he’s unvaccinated, he has to be in the protocol for at least 10 days.
Everyone was previously under the assumption that Rodgers was vaccinated, but then Twitter sleuths pulled up the clip of the press conference from over the summer when a reporter asked him if he was vaccinated, and Rodgers, shrewdly, said, “Yeah, I’m immunized.”
Not vaccinated; immunized.
Nobody thought much of it at the time because the two words are basically assumed to mean the same thing. But Rodgers chose his words carefully.
All week, he’s been under fire from the extremely liberal Sports Media and the Twitter mob, who demands everyone get the vaccination. I suspect they get so angry when they find out a famous person isn’t vaccinated because deep down, they do have some concerns and possibly regrets over getting the unproven and, frankly, unnecessary vaccine, and since you can’t undo the vaccine shot, they want everyone else in the same boat with them. They worry when they see a celebrity that isn’t vaccinated, because it makes them wonder, “What does that celebrity know that I don’t?”
Especially so for Aaron Rodgers who, as I’ve learned from watching the Pat McAfee show on a regular basis over the past year or so, is an incredibly intelligent and thoughtful guy. To me, it’s not much of surprise that Rodgers is skeptical of the vaccine. He’s a deep thinker. There’s a little part of his segment on the McAfee show where he recommends a book for McAfee to read each week. It’s kind of a joke, since McAfee plays the jock/meathead bro who has clearly never cracked a book since like the 4th grade, but some of the books Rodgers talks about– it’s a lot of stuff about philosophy, Buddhism, and other deep, high-level topics–make it clear that he’s a very intelligent dude. He’s absolutely got an IQ north of 140-150, and he’s way smarter than any of the media clowns who are ripping him apart this week.
And again, deep down, that probably worries the media. What does he know that I don’t?
A lot, unfortunately for you media clowns.
Aaron Rodgers has, for most of his career, generally been a pretty private and quiet guy when it comes to details about his personality and his personal life.
That has changed, however, over the past year or so, as he’s been making weekly appearances on the Pat McAfee Show, hosted by McAfee, a former NFL punter, and Rodgers’ old Packers teammate, linebacker AJ Hawk, who is retired now but won a Super Bowl with Rodgers in 2010. Probably there are two main reasons Rodgers decided to start opening up more as of late: one, he’s older now (37), and simply doesn’t give as much of a shit about what people say about him, and two, because McAfee and Hawk are not traditional sports media. They’re both recently-retired NFL players, not career media guys, meaning Rodgers inherently trusts them–plus they’re on satellite radio and YouTube, so they and their guests can say pretty much whatever the hell they want. The McAfee show really gives Rodgers a platform to say what’s on his mind and not have his words twisted and misconstrued by the sharks in the media.
Rodgers’ weekly appearance on the show is usually on Tuesdays, but since all this covid/vaccine stuff about him started blowing up in the days following his Tuesday appearance, apparently he felt compelled to come back on the show and give his side of the story regarding Covid and his vaccination status.
It was awesome:
“I realize I’m in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now, so before the final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I think I’d like to set the record straight on some of the blatant lies that are out there about myself.
First of all, I didn’t lie in that 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 what was vaccinated and who wasn’t, and what that meant, and who was being selfish, and who would talk about it, and what it meant if they said it was a personal decision and 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 lie, or a ruse, it was the truth. And I’ll get into that in a second, but, uh, had there been a follow up to my statement that I’d been immunized, I would have responded with this: I would have said, I’m not some sort of anti-vax flat-earther, I’m 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, and not to have to acquiesce to some woke culture, or crazed 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 playing in games. I put a lot of time and energy into research, and met with a lot of people in the medical field to get the most information about the vaccines before making the decision.
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 history, some of their fraud cases, or any of that stuff.” [He’s talking about the vaccine companies, Pfizer and Moderna].
I love that he felt the need to mention that. What a legend.
“It was simply the fact that I have an allergy that’s in the mRNA vaccines. 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, and my only option at that point was the Johnson & Johnson.
At this time, in the early spring, I had heard of multiple people who had had adverse events around getting the JNJ. No deaths or anything, but just some stuff that was really difficult times, and physical abnormalities around the JNJ shot. And then, in mid-April, the JNJ shot got pulled for clotting issues, if you remember that. So the JNJ shot was not even an option at that point.
So then at that point it became, what can I do to protect myself and my teammates if there’s not one of the big three options for me and my own body? So I looked into and talked to a lot of medical individuals and professionals, and found that there was an immunization protocol that I could go through to best protect myself and my teammates. It was a long-term protocol over multiple months, and I’m very proud of the research that went into that. The people that I met with, we felt like that was best for me.
It was not something the league didn’t know about. The league was fully aware of it when I returned to the Packers. It was then that I petitioned to them to accept my immunization status as part of their “vaccination” protocol. At the time, only the Big Three 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 you would have to adhere to, which in my opinion were not based on science, and were more based in a shame-based environment to get as many guys vaccinated as possible so that the league looks better to the rest of the world. That was the focus of these protocols.”
Holy shit.
Aaron Rodgers is incredibly based.
This is the true MVP of the NFL–not only on the field, but off it, too.
He basically said all the the things you’re Not Allowed To Say.
The only thing he didn’t say was, “It doesn’t make sense for anybody under the age of 75 to get this vaccine. Look at the data, you morons. Unless you have diabetes or are morbidly obese or have a serious health issues, you are not at risk at all from Covid.”
As expected, the sports media blue checks absolutely exploded over what Rodgers said today. Lost their damn minds. Outkick has a lot of it here, but there is so much angst and rage on social media about Aaron right now that it’s almost impossible to keep track of it all.
It’s pretty astounding, honestly. These people are losing their damn minds over a personal decision that Aaron Rodgers made that does not affect them in any way. It has no effect on their lives whatsoever. Not even a tiny bit.
And yet they’re flipping out.
Again, I think it’s because deep down, they’re afraid. How would you feel if you were vaccinated and a person who is way smarter than you are announced that he’d made the decision to not be vaccinated? You’d be worried. What does he know that I don’t?
The whole interview with McAfee is over 47 minutes long, so I can’t transcribe everything Rodgers said, but it’s here:
I’m going to include a few other choice quotes:
“So I petitioned the league, initially they returned and said, “No, you’ll be in the unvaccinated category.” And I also said, how come there’s no exemptions for medical exemptions, religious exemptions, pre-existing conditions? and they said, those are exemptions, but you would basically be put into the non-vaccinated category.
After they said, no, you’re un-vaxxed, I said I’m going to appeal this. It 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, and all the latest research surrounding my case, everything from mask wearing, the efficacy of the vaccines, the duration of the antibodies--just all the stuff I was getting from my medical team.
In that process we had many conversations, I enjoyed them with the league, it was good sharing. But one in particular was when I knew I was not going to win was when they said, one of the doctors said, “It’s impossible for a vaccinated person to get Covid or spread Covid.“
And at that point I knew that, uh, I was not going to win the appeal, and it was very shortly thereafter denied. And we know now that information is totally false, that was given to me.”
I’m in awe right now. I’m in awe of this LEGEND of a man.
My desire to immunize myself is what’s best for my body, and that’s what’s 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 interests of my body--I’m not telling somebody to not get vaccinated or to get vaccinated, I think you should just do what’s in the best interest of your body. If you’re scared or you have co-morbidities, then getting vaccinated is probably your best option. Make the decision that’s in your best interest, and that’s what I did….
Get ready for this one:
“The other part to it is, the next great chapter in my life is being a father, and that’s something 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 I was worried about and it went through my mind…. Even if I didn’t have [the allergy], that would be something that would give me pause, because we don’t know what the long-term effects are. There are still clinical trials going through 2023.
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 there.”
He really went there.
The absolute madman. He went there.
Next he gets into the bullshit he has to deal with on a daily basis due to the NFL’s Covid protocols, which Rodgers correctly surmises are not based on science at all but are instead based on the goal of shaming and ostracizing non-vaccinated players:
“The organization knew my status, my teammates knew my status. There’s nothing that was hidden there….
Some of the rules, to me, are not based in science at all, but in trying to out and shame people, like needing to wear a mask at a podium when every person in the room is vaxxed and wearing a mask. Makes no sense to me. If you get vaccinated to, you know, protect yourself from a virus–that I don’t have, as an unvaccinated individual–then why are you worried about anything I could give you?”
…. I have followed every single protocol to a T, minus that one I just mentioned, which makes no sense to me. But my daily routine is the routine of an unvaccinated person, which is I have to test early. Vaccinated people test once every two weeks, non-vaccinated people once a day. Which, again, that’s not based in science at all. You can have vaccinated people who actually carry and spread the virus not testing for two weeks, and non-vaccinated people are the safest people in the building because we’re being tested every single day and wearing masks the entire time. But instead we’re being made to think we’re the dangerous ones, we’re the ‘superspeaders”….
But these protocols we’ve had to go through: I test every single day. 5am on noon games, which, I don’t understand why 5am, but 5am on noon games. You test in the morning, you have to then wait in your car for 30-40 minutes before they give you the OK to go in. Vaccinated people test and just go right in and have breakfast with everyone else.
Mask every day I’m in the facility. Physically distance from everybody else. I have major travel restrictions. I can’t leave the hotel, I can’t have dinner with teammates even if I tested negative that morning to even get on the flight. The only people I see at the hotel are vaccinated people. I have to wear a mask the entire time, I can’t see anybody after the game. I work out off to the side in the weight room, in a mask. Again, there hasn’t been many studies about the efficacy of masks for workouts, or the higher levels of CO2 inhaled during workouts and how that affects performances and body functions. I’m not allowed to use the sauna or the steam room. I have to wear a yellow wristband at all times basically shouting to the world I’m unclean and unvaxxed.
They make him wear a yellow wristband. Holy shit.
Remind you of anything?
Just saying.
“And in this situation now [having tested positive for Covid], I’m 10 days off regardless of tests or symptoms. I’m 2 days in, I had some symptoms Tuesday night, tested positive Wednesday morning. I feel really good now, Friday. But anyway, 10 days off, while a vaccinated person has to just have 2 back-to-back negative tests.
Allen Lazard [Packers WR] was a close contact to Davante Adams [who tested positive], and Allen is not vaxxed, and they tried to cancel him for that, but they also didn’t bring up the fact that he tested negative every single day. So just because he was a close contact and not vaxxed, this is what the league has done, they’ve made it hard for people to make a decision: “you’re a close contact, you’re out for 5 days.” Just to keep this propaganda narrative going that unvaccinated people are the most dangerous people in society.
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–that’s the propaganda line now: you’re selfish for making a decision that’s in the best interest of your body. I’ve already spelled out the issues related to my own personal health–I have allergies to the ingredient in the mRNA vaccines, the JNJ vaccine got pulled. I went out and paid for on my own, did research, and did an immunization protocol that’s been used–homeopathy has been around for centuries–and the doctors that I consulted have been doing this stuff for decades for children and adults who have immuno-comptonizations, or preexisting conditions, or other reasons they cannot take traditional vaccines. The league didn’t offer any opportuniy for alternative medicines or treatments, as I’ll get into.
But I think the thing that is so disappointing is not just that, but it’s the coercion and the collusion of GMs saying they’re not going to sign non-vaccinated players. And the coercion for a player 54-90 [NFL rosters begin with 90 guys but are cut down to 53 guys by the start of the season] who thinks, ‘If I don’t make this squad that I’m on now in training camp, and I’m not vaxxed, then my career is over.
Workers at the facility, too. And you’re seeing all these mandates all over the country, firefighters and policemen and government workers who are saying, ‘What about my body my choice?’…
You look at our squad, we’ve had two vaccinated players test positive. It’s pretty evident I tested positive from 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 and have tested positive. So this idea that it’s a pandemic of the unvaccinated, it’s a total lie.”
HE WENT AFTER FAUCI AND BIDEN!
It just keeps getting better and better:
“My questions for the woke mob: If the vaccine is so great, then how come people are still getting Covid and spreading Covid and unfortunately dying from Covid? If the vaccine is so safe, how come the manufacturers of the vaccine have full immunity? So let’s step back and realize, this vaccine is revolutionary, the things that they’re doing. However, we don’t know a whole lot about it. To say it’s just a blanket for all the things that ail you, in my opinion, is wrong and reckless.
To the media out there, 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 go through the ringer and be over-scrutinized by people who are just pushing their own propaganda on the people. You want to have a conversation about it? I’m more than willing to have a conversation about it.”
Here comes the part that is really driving the blue checks up a wall:
“But bodily autonomy is a right. And the shaming, and outing, and the people who get off on saying, “Oh can you believe these crackpots who aren’t vaccinated?” Everybody has their own story. Everybody has their own issues and their own reasons for doing things. But this shaming and canceling in society, that is wrong. I made a choice that was in my own best interest. You might respect it, you might hate it.
But I bet you the same people that hate are the same people that are really gonna hate the fact that I’m 48 hours, and I consulted with a now really good friend of mine, Joe Rogan, after he got Covid, and I’ve been doing a lot of the stuff he recommended in his podcast and on the phone with me. And I’m going to have the best immunity possible based on the 2.5 million person study from Israel that says people who have recovered from Covid 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’m taking monclonal antibodies, Ivermectin, zinc, Vitamin-C, Vitamin-D, HCQ–and I feel pretty incredible right now.”
HE’S TAKING THE HORSE PASTE!!!!!!!!!
HORSE PASTE!!!!!!!
Pat McAfee then talks about how he recently had Covid even though he’s been vaccinated, and he also talks about how his doctor prescribed him Ivermectin but the pharmacy straight-up wouldn’t give it to him. Pat says he doesn’t really pay attention to politics or any of that stuff at all and he was just very confused as to why it was this big issue for him to get something his doctor prescribed him.
If you have time, watch the whole video. It’s really an incredible interview. Rodgers also talks about how this isn’t a political thing for him, he’s not trying to be the hero of the right or anything. He says he knows he’s going to get canceled by the left but he doesn’t care.
I did not begin writing this article thinking it would be this long or this rich with great points and amazing quotes, but honestly, this discussion between McAfee and Aaron Rodgers may have been the single greatest, most candid, and most informative discussion to ever take place in the American media regarding the Covid vaccine.
And it happened on a sports show.
What does that tell you about the state of the media in this country?