Aaron Rodgers knew exactly what he was doing when he addressed the media about his COVID-19 vaccination status last summer.
In the weeks leading up to the start of the 2021 NFL season, Rodgers informed the media he had been “immunized” against COVID-19. However, the Packers quarterback eventually was exposed when he was forced to miss Green Bay’s Week 9 game against the Kansas City Chiefs since he was unvaccinated. The alternative measures Rodgers took to immunize himself against COVID-19 were deemed unsatisfactory by the NFL.
The Rodgers-COVID saga is pretty deep into the rearview mirror at this point, but the two-time defending league MVP revisited the start of the ordeal during a recent appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
“So, I’ve been ready the entire time for this question and had thought about how I wanted to answer it,” Rodgers said. “I had come to the conclusion that I’m gonna say I’ve been immunized and if there’s a follow-up, then talk about my process. But, I thought there was 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 into the season (with) them thinking — some of them — that I was vaccinated, right? Because the only follow-up they asked was basically asking me to rip on my teammates. Like, ‘What do you say to your teammates who aren’t vaccinated? What kind of example do you think you’re setting to your teammates who aren’t vaccinated?’ I said, hey, it’s everybody’s own decision with their body. We’re super healthy individuals. We take care of ourselves, we understand what goes in our bodies and I don’t have any judgment on any decision that a guy makes with their own body.”
As for the here and now, Rodgers and his team are poised for success in the 2022 campaign. The Packers have the fourth-shortest odds at DraftKings Sportsbook to win Super Bowl LVII and Rodgers is a 10-1 bet to win his third consecutive MVP award.
