It was only a matter of time before Aaron Rodgers joined his buddy Joe Rogan’s podcast to discuss everything that has happened with the controversial quarterback over the past year-plus.
Rodgers now famously cited Rogan as a mentor and guide after he’d contracted COVID-19 in 2021, after which it was revealed that he’d decided not to get the vaccine despite telling reporters earlier in the year that he was “immunized”.
While Rodgers said that he was the victim of a “witch hunt” amidst the criticism, the hardest element of the incident for the Packers’ QB to defend seemed to be his dishonesty with the media about his vaccination status.
Though Rodgers has previously explained his reasoning for implying that he had been vaccinated, he went into greater detail with Rogan in an episode that was posted on Saturday.
Rodgers began by explaining that he ultimately decided not to get the mRNA vaccine because he says he’s allergic to PEG (Polyethylene glycol) and that his only other option at the time was the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which had just had its access restricted due to the risk of a blood clotting disorder.
Rodgers then decided to explore alternative forms of immunization through a “wholistic doctor” and found a protocol he felt was his best option. Rodgers says that the protocol involved a month’s long process where he took diluted strands of the virus orally.
Rodgers appealed the league for a vaccine waiver and gave them “500 pages of research” on the protocol he went through. Rodgers then claims the league told him “it’s not possible for a vaccinated person to contract or transmit COVID if they’ve been vaccinated” and that he was a “conspiracy theorist.”
After it became clear Rodgers wouldn’t get his waiver granted, he came up with a plan on how he’d address it with the media when he was asked about his vax status.
“I’d been ready the entire time for this question and had thought about how I wanted to answer it. And I had come to the conclusion I’m gonna say, ‘I’ve been immunized.’ And if there’s a follow-up, then talk about my process,” Rodgers said.
“But, (I) thought there’s a possibility that I say ‘I’m immunized,’ maybe they understand what that means, maybe they don’t. Maybe they follow up. They didn’t follow up. So then I go the season (with) them thinking, some of them, that I was vaccinated.”
Ultimately, and somewhat obviously, most assumed that Rodgers was saying he’d been vaccinated. That’s when Rodgers eventually did contract the virus from teammates, and knew he was going to get heat.
“I knew at some point if I contracted COVID or if word got out, because it’s the NFL and there’s leaks everywhere, it was possible I’d have to answer the questions,” he told Rogan.
“And that’s when the shit storm hit, because now I’m a liar, I’m endangering the community, my teammates, all these people. And then, you know, attempted takedown of me and, you know, my word and my integrity began.”
Rodgers was ultimately suspended one game for breaking COVID protocol.