Packers quarterback
NFL superstar Rodgers defends his controversial statements about vaccination – but also admits mistakes
NFl superstar Aaron Rodgers is under heavy fire for his statements about corona vaccinations
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Joshua Kimmich is the topic of conversation in Germany, while Aaron Rodgers is at the center of a similar debate in the USA. The NFL star is unvaccinated and has been criticized for his statement. Now he has spoken again.
As a quarterback in the NFL, he can play as well as he wants in the future – Aaron Rodgers can probably get rid of the fourth MVP title of his career after his very personal corona vaccination debate. “I think that’s a legitimate statement,” said the Green Bay Packers professional footballer on Tuesday. He laughed at the next appearance on the US talk show, in which he only commented on Friday why he was not vaccinated against the corona virus, contrary to what was assumed. But none of this is so funny for him: Rodgers is in the USA, like Joshua Kimmich in Germany, at the center of a storm of indignation about vaccination.
The comments in the direction of the Super Bowl champion from 2011 are a lot sharper than all the appeals to Kimmich. This is probably also because many people in the USA feel deliberately deceived by Rodgers – or even lied to. Because in August, the team colleague of the German-American Equanimeous St. Brown replied to a reporter question about his vaccination status: “Yes, I am immunized.”
Aaron Rodgers relies on homeopathy
ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, known for his polemics, recently even described the Packers playmaker, three times most valuable professional in the NFL, as a “national embarrassment” according to his statements on the “Pat McAfee Show”.
There Rodgers had justified his waiver of a vaccination with an allergy to an active ingredient in the mRNA vaccines. He also has concerns about his fertility. Therefore, he uses homeopathic methods. So far, there is no scientific evidence that vaccination could affect a person’s fertility.
The whole situation is delicate for the NFL. She has to put up with the accusation of turning a blind eye to Rodgers and not punishing all violations of the Corona regulations equally strictly. The league knew he was not vaccinated but did not respond to public rule violations such as press conferences without a mask. Only when Rodgers’ positive corona test became public and stood in a row with other positive cases on the team was there an investigation.
NFL fines Packers and Rodgers
The penalty has been fixed since Tuesday evening (local time): $ 300,000 for the Packers and $ 14,650 each for Rodgers and his teammate Allen Lazard for attending the team’s Halloween party as an unvaccinated footballer.
When Rodgers, dressed in a “Star Wars” sweater and with a black cap on his head, was now back on video in the show of ex-NFL player, wrestler and presenter Patrick McAfee, he gave himself at least some insight. He took “full responsibility for my misleading comments,” he said, referring to the “immunized” statement from the summer. In terms of content, however, he did not move an inch from his position. “I stand by what I said and the reasons I made the decision,” he said.
He did not want to be understood as an ambassador. He has the feeling that he has reached the other side of his corona infection. He is fine. He still has to do tests before he can play football again, at the earliest at the home game on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. “I’m an athlete, not an activist. I’m going to do what I do best again, and that’s playing ball,” Rodgers said. For a few days it has become much less likely that he will receive another personal award for this.