Aaron Rodgers goes on Pat McAfee Show to discuss COVID-19, vaccination status, disproven conspiracy theories

November 9 update: Rodgers was back on Pat McAfee’s show. You can watch his interview from last week here. Below is his more recent interview. He gave a “sorry if you felt mislead” apology which comes across like “I’m sorry if you were offended by what I said/did” so it’s hard to take it too seriously. Rodgers seems to want to move on and get people to stop talking about his conspiracy theory beliefs. For a helpful explainer of his comments last week and how wrong he is, check out Acme Packing Company’s explainer.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show Friday morning to discuss the controversy around his COVID-19 vaccination status. It was an unexpected interview, so you can still watch it live in the video above. You can rewind the video to see everything he has to say.

Rodgers said at the time, the only vaccine he could take was Johnson & Johnson due to an allergy related to the MRNA vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer). He said he did not get J&J due to the clotting issues from the summer. He did not address the fact that the clotting issues were still incredibly low from a statistical perspective and clearly has not read up on that side of it. This is not surprising considering he also raised the sterility concerns which is also something that has been addressed.

Rodgers said he spoke with medical individuals about alternative treatments because of his concerns over the three vaccines. The NFL initially said no and would only allow for the three vaccines. Rodgers also would not go into details about the alternative therapies he was considering.

The Packers QB was defensive throughout and his language makes it hard to take him seriously. While offering insight about his alleged medical status and proclaiming himself to not be anti-vax, he was hitting on all the buzz words you hear from the anti-vax segment of the unvaccinated population.

He opened by using the terms “woke mob,” “cancel culture,” and “witch hunt” all within the first minute. He talked about his now good friend Joe Rogan and taking his advice around Ivermectin. He cited MLK about the moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. He talked about being a critical thinker but then pointed to at least two theories around the vaccines that have been proven false or entirely misleading — the clotting and the sterility. He hit on every note you’ll see from an anti-vaxxer.

All in all, it was a disappointing interview. When you’re talking about disproven concerns around the vaccine and how you consulted with a now good friend in Joe Rogan, you just have to wonder what in the world is going on.

Whatever the case, Rodgers is out ten days and will not play this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. He is eligible to return in Week 10 against the Seattle Seahawks if he tests negative and does not have symptoms.