Back in 2021, Aaron Rodgers told the media that he had been "immunized," when asked if he had been vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rodgers appeared to be confirming that he had been vaccinated. However, it later came out that he did not receive an approved vaccination, but rather sought different treatments.
"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.'"
Now, as Dr. Fauci pled the fifth during a U.S. Congressional hearing, Rodgers is taking a victory lap.
"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 on ESPN on Monday.
ESPN.
Former ESPN host Danny Kanell is calling for NFL reporters to issue an apology to Rodgers. Many were - and remain - critical of his comments and behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Has any sports reporter apologized to Aaron Rodgers for absolutely crushing him during Covid??? Doubt it. They’re too embarrassed by how wrong they were or even worse still think they were right," Danny Kanell shared.
"There was never any reason for athletes to be forced to vaccinate. They didn’t need it and it didn’t prevent them from getting it and spreading it. And it unnecessarily exposed them to myocarditis. This is what the science has proven over time."
NFL reporters not apologizing, though
Joel Anderson shared: "Nobody is apologizing to Aaron Rodgers because he’s malevolently stupid and so is this tweet."
Doug Gottlieb shared: "For him lying and trying to act like no one asked him a follow up?"
Keith Olbermann replied: "After he apologizes to America, we'll think about it."
Another wrote: "I like how literally nothing of note has happened other than a guy pleading the fifth (which right wingers were huge fans of not too long ago) and suddenly they're victory lapping as if vaccinated people are dropping dead."
Another wrote: "Idiots like Aaron Rodgers - and this guy - contributed to the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of people by spreading misinformation about COVID vaccines."
Rodgers, meanwhile, will surely have something to say about this, too.
