Aaron Rodgers is the king of his own world
The Packers quarterback has long been renowned for his intellect. He’s clearly not as smart as he wants everyone to believe he is.
When Aaron Rodgers came to Mina Kimes’ home in 2017 for an ESPN profile, he set his phone on the table next to hers, explaining that it was so he doesn’t get taken “out of context.” It read like a subtle move that suited the future Hall of Fame quarterback’s character, so meticulous and hyper-aware of his image that he’d only feel comfortable opening up about his life in someone else’s house as he recorded each word himself.
Given Rodgers’ conspiratorial turn on Friday, proudly confessing on the Pat McAfee Show about consulting Joe Rogan for medical advice and waging a war against a “woke mob”, the Packers star’s careful crafting of his reputation takes on new context. Rodgers has long been renowned for his sharp intellect; clearly he’s not as smart as he wants everyone to think he is.
The news that Rodgers is unvaccinated is uniquely upsetting. He presents himself as a reasonable man; he hasn’t embraced conspiracy theories in the past like NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving and doesn’t have ties to Donald Trump like NFL contemporary Tom Brady. Rodgers is the guy who tells people to R-E-L-A-X when he should be freaking out, who can roll out of pressure and fire a bullet between multiple defenders without a droplet of perspiration. He is a local hero to a rabid fanbase, one of the most imperturbable athletes in America.
It doesn’t fit the narrative that now he’s also a man who can’t handle a prick in the shoulder for the good of society.
On Friday, Rodgers didn’t simply express views of vaccine hesitancy. He launched into a deranged diatribe against the left, flinging open the door to his dusty attic of anti-science screed. This was a noted heel-turn for the inconspicuous Wisconsinite. While Rodgers hasn’t always been the most outspoken about social issues facing the league (he told Kimes he supported Colin Kaepernick but would continue to stand for the flag), he’s thus far coasted through his NFL career without sparking the ire of either side of the political spectrum, a feat in itself considering his position as a public figure.
As he’s vaulted his Packers team to a league-best 7-1, the reigning Most Valuable Player has also been slyly manipulating the media about his vaccination status. The 37-year-old quarterback said at an Aug. 26 press conference that he’d been “immunized.” He chose that word as carefully as a third read on a well-defensed Hail Mary, and his verbal acrobatics paid off for the first half of the season.
Then he got coronavirus.
Now Rodgers has broken the league’s policy for unvaccinated players this season, and he likely won’t be punished at all, aside from the game(s) he’s forced to miss for testing positive for COVID-19. The NFL would rather not be accused by a significant portion of its fans of caving to Rodgers’ mythical “woke mob.” The Packers quarterback will evade consequence for the same reason Kaepernick is still a free agent.
Rodgers, a 17-year veteran, is the most prominent NFL player to openly question mask and vaccine efficacy, but he’s certainly not alone. Bills receiver Cole Beasley branded himself the anti-vax poster child in the preseason, blasting buffoonish statements via Twitter to defend his refusal to get the shot. Pro Bowl wideout Deandre Hopkins and cornerback Jalen Ramsey were vocal about supporting guys like Beasley. A bevy of quarterbacks—Sam Darnold and Josh Allen said they needed to do more research; Kirk Cousins called it a fluid situation; Lamar Jackson said his vaccination status was between him and his doctor; Dak Prescott cited HIPAA—passed on their opportunity to encourage the public to get inoculated.
And still, Rodgers lending his powerful voice this off-pitch chorus is especially infuriating. Although he is a private man—he has avoided comment on the fractured relationship with his family—Rodgers is notoriously well-read; earlier this year, he served a guest role as host of Jeopardy, basically a glorified fact checker. At the end of his regular segments on the Pat McAfee Show, he recommends a book to the audience. In Kimes’ piece, she wrote that a young Rodgers was motivated to study theology to push beyond the constraining beliefs of his religious Christian upbringing.
“As he read more,” Kimes wrote, “Rodgers grew increasingly convinced that the beliefs he had internalized growing up were wrong, that spirituality could be far more inclusive and less literal than he had been taught.”
How did Rodgers, a noted bibliophile who rejected biblical fundamentalism, arrive at ivermectin? Did his desire to question everything outweigh his motivation to accept basic scientific facts? Or perhaps Rodgers was swept up in a wave of misinformation, proving that anyone, even one of the greatest athletes playing one of the most cerebral positions in sports with the most erudite of extracurricular tastes, can fall victim to propaganda.
Maybe he’s just selfish.
Or could it be that Rodgers has simply romanticized the idea of proving people wrong. From community college transfer to falling deep into the first round of the NFL Draft to being forced to wait his turn to earn a starting role in Green Bay, to the fallout with his family and the drama with his former head coach Mike McCarthy, to being criticized for only winning one Super Bowl despite being arguably the best quarterback in the NFL for more than a decade, to not getting his way this past offseason when many thought he wouldn’t return to the Packers, it’s possible Rodgers feels slighted in a manner no one can understand, and the way he saw fit to lash out was to effectively lie about being vaccinated.
Despite speaking out about not trusting science, Rodgers hasn’t shared an answer explaining why he came to the decision that he would be the latest spokesperson for drawing this pandemic out as long as possible. Trying to comprehend how he got here is a fool’s errand; Rodgers is just enigmatic enough to keep defenses on their toes. It works in football and off the field, where he leaves far too many wondering what in the world is going on in his head.
For at least one game, Rodgers will be sidelined. And then, likely sooner rather than later, he’ll be back with a vengeance that makes sense to him and only him.
To hell with everyone else.