Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers made a live on-set appearance on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" on Monday.
Rodgers, 42, is set to play his final NFL season in 2026. Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP, has made weekly appearances on McAfee's show for several years now. The former Green Bay Packers and New York Jets star made quite the appearance on Monday, though.
The Steelers quarterback joked that he will be "taking the fifth" while being questioned by McAfee on Monday. Rodgers was making a reference to Dr. Anthony Fauci taking the fifth during a high-profile Senate hearing about the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Fauci refused to answer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic origins, public policies, and his personal diaries.
"I'm gonna plead the 5th. Like that absolute coward Tony Fauci. Absolute coward. Are you kidding me? What are you scared of Tony? I thought you were science?" Rodgers said.
Rodgers, of course, has quite the history with the COVID-19 pandemic. Rodgers told reporters that he had been "immunized" in 2021. However, he later admitted that he hadn't technically been vaccinated, which most assumed is what he meant with his "immunized" comment.
“First of all, I didn’t lie in the initial press conference,” Rodgers said earlier that season. “During that time, it was a witch hunt that was going on across the league, where everybody in the media was so concerned about who was vaccinated and who wasn’t and what that meant and who was being selfish and who would talk about it, what it meant if they said it’s a personal decision and they shouldn’t have to disclose their own medical information.
“And at the time, my plan was to say that I have been immunized. It wasn’t some sort of ruse or lie. It was the truth, and I’ll get into the whole immunization in a second. But had there been a follow-up to my statement that I’ve been immunized, I would have responded with this: I would have said, ‘Look, I’m not some sort of anti-vax, flat-Earther. I am somebody who’s a critical thinker.'”
Stephen A. Smith called out Dr. Fauci, too
Smith said that Dr. Fauci acted cowardly, too.
“As it strictly pertains to the coronavirus pandemic, my attitude is, with you being the face that you have been, you can’t show up on Capitol Hill and plead the Fifth 111 times,” he told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo. “You just can’t do that. That’s not right. You’ve got to answer some questions.”
Smith did acknowledge that Dr. Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly 40 years, might have had legal reasons to stay quiet.
“Anything that he said clearly could potentially incriminate him and could give them fodder to come after him for future potential transgressions, and they can go after him that way, and I certainly don’t want an 85-year-old man thrown in jail, particularly with his exemplary service,” the commentator told NewsNation.
Rodgers, meanwhile, isn't holding back.
