Earlier this month, the news broke that the Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers had not only contracted COVID-19, but that he was also not vaccinated against the virus. This took many people, both Packers fans and not, by complete surprise. Earlier in the season, Rodgers had stated that he was “immunized” against COVID-19, and many people took this as it meant that he was vaccinated. Because who says that if they’re not?
Well, apparently Rodgers does. In an interview on the Pat McAfee Show, he clarified that he had been immunized by taking a homeopathic immunization method, in addition to consulting with podcaster Joe Rogan and taking ivermectin. Ivermectin, a veterinary medication commonly used for deworming, has not been approved for treatment or prevention of COVID-19.
Not only did this put Rodgers’ teammates, who he attended a Halloween party within the days before he tested positive, at risk of catching the virus, but he misled the people who supported him. In addition to misleading people about being vaccinated, he promoted false claims of infertility as a result of taking the vaccine and bashed those who talked about receiving it. He cited himself as being caught in the crosshairs of a “woke mob” and a “witch hunt,” and insisted he had not lied about receiving a vaccine.
Rodgers has effectively socially blacklisted himself after his little tantrum. Not only has one of his corporate partners, Prevea Health, dropped him from their ambassador list, but he’s aligned himself with a group of people who are partly to blame for the continuance of the COVID-19 pandemic. While he declared that he is not an anti-vaxxer and is instead a “critical thinker,” taking medical advice from Joe Rogan and not the many scientific professionals who have performed extensive testing of the COVID-19 vaccines currently available doesn’t seem like an especially sane thought process.
On top of that, he has turned this into a pity party for himself instead of admitting that he intentionally misled people to avoid coming under fire. As someone who has long supported Rodgers over Favre in the Green Bay quarterback debate, I’m so disappointed in how he handled this. It would have been better if he had just outright said he was not comfortable receiving the vaccine and been done with it, because either way, people would argue about his decision. It is the fact that he misled people to put off being chided over his decision and then spouted false information with no scientific backing that really upsets me. He has people, including children, who look up to him. He should have thought of that before throwing a tantrum about how he doesn’t believe in science.
