Aaron Rodgers has admitted that he wishes he had handled his “immunization” saga differently.
The New York Jets quarterback, now one of the most controversial figures in American sports, sparked a row after he claimed to be “immunized” during the COVID-19 pandemic, only for it to be determined that he was not vaccinated as he had led everyone to believe.
Rodgers has discussed this with Ian O’Connor, the author of a bio set for launch later this month called “Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers,” saying it’s one thing he would have handled differently because it gave the media dirt on him.
The QB doesn’t regret the whole thing because he misled the public but because “that’s the only thing [critics] could hit me with.”
“If I could do it again, I would have said [in August], f**k the appeal. I’m just going to tell them I’m allergic to PEG, I’m not getting Johnson & Johnson, I’m not going to be vaxxed,’” he added.
The veteran star claimed his statement was not an attempt to fool anyone but rather a plea to the NFL to look into alternative methods of dealing with the virus.
“I had an immunization card from my holistic doctor, which looked similar. I wasn’t trying to pawn it off as a vaccine card, but I said, ‘Listen, here’s my protocol. Here’s what you can follow to look this up.’ And it was an ongoing appeal,” he said.
“So, if I had just said [I was unvaccinated] in the moment, there’s no chance that the appeal would have been handled the exact same way.”
Aaron Rodgers Was Never The Same After The “Immunization” Debacle
Since his 2021 controversy, Rodgers has continued to march to the beat of his own drum while showing a love for conspiracy theories.
He was recently fined by the Jets for missing the team’s minicamp so he could fly to Egypt. Prior to that, he started some beef with late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel by implying his name was on the “Epstein List.”
There’s also the mini-beef he kicked off with Travis Kelce by referring to the Kansas City Chiefs tight end as “Mr. Pfizer.”
On the football side of things, Aaron Rodgers will hope to play out a full season with his team in 2024 after sustaining a torn Achilles that ruled him out of 2023 just a few snaps into his debut.
