Green Bay Packers quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers missed this past Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs after testing positive for COVID-19.
What started as a rather innocent story took a major turn when indications came out suggesting that Rodgers himself was not truthful about whether he was vaccinated for the virus.
Rodgers noted ahead of the season that he was immunized, expanding on that late last week in his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. During said appearance, the embattled quarterback indicated that he included NFL’s top doctors in his conversations about getting vaccinated.
Apparently, the league is taking exception to this statement.
“The NFL strongly denied that Aaron Rodgers talked to any of its doctors, as he asserted on The Pat McAfee Show. In fact, I’m told the league offered him the opportunity to talk to the NFL/NFLPA joint infectious disease consultant and/or the league’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills, and he didn’t take the NFL up on the offer,” Albert Breer of MMQB noted Monday. “That was after the league found, in the words of one source, that Rodgers’s “homeopathic therapy doesn’t provide any protection that’s supported by science at all.”
Rodgers underwent what he calls homeopathic treatment rather than getting the vaccines. The future Hall of Fame quarterback said in his interview that he’s allergic to some of the ingredients in the mRNA vaccines and opted against taking the Johnson & Johnson vaccine once it was temporarily pulled due to blood clot issues.
Aaron Rodgers won’t be suspended by the NFL
Regardless, there’s no indication right now that the NFL plans to suspend Aaron Rodgers for his alleged violation of its COVID-19 protocols. Rather, a fine could be headed in the quarterback direction. That doesn’t sit will with some within the NFL who believe that the league is practicing a double standard.
Remember, Rodgers was seen throughout the season taking part in press conferences while un-masked, which is against league-mandated protocols.
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As for a potential return to the field, there’s a chance he will play next Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. Rodgers, who had initial symptoms, will have to show he’s unsymptomatic and be cleared by an independent specialist before returning to action. He’s eligible to return to the Packers’ facility Saturday should all go according to plan.