Aaron Rodgers regrets 2021 'immunized' comments
Four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers admitted in a soon-to-be-published unauthorized biography that he should have been truthful about his COVID-19 vaccination status during the 2021 season, according to ESPN.
In November 2021, Rodgers tested positive for COVID and was forced to be sidelined for at least 10 days, a protocol followed by unvaccinated players at the time. The veteran quarterback, however, had suggested three months earlier that he was vaccinated by saying he was "immunized." He missed the Green Bay Packers' highly anticipated matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs as a result.
"If there's one thing I wish could have gone different, it's that, because that's the only thing (critics) could hit me with," Rodgers said in the book titled "Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers" by author Ian O'Connor, per ESPN.
Before reporting for the Packers' training camp in July 2021, Rodgers petitioned the NFL to have an alternate treatment that would allow him to be considered the same as someone who received the vaccines. His personal doctor gave him homeopathic treatment to increase his antibody levels, and Rodgers asked the NFL to review his status. The league denied his claim.
"But 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,'" Rodgers said in the book.
He added: "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. 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."
Rodgers won the MVP award for a second straight season in 2021, which ended up being his final Pro Bowl campaign as a member of the Packers. Green Bay traded him to the New York Jets during the 2023 offseason.