The COVID-19 scandal in which Aaron Rodgers was the subject, has already come and gone. It was big news a few weeks ago but nothing says “Get over it” like winning football games. But the debate still lingers as to how Rodgers’ alleged dirty dance with the truth has affected or will affect the Packers and what the consequences might be going forward.
As Packers fans all know, this is not the only controversy that has embroiled the team’s future Hall of Fame quarterback this year. During the offseason, bad blood still resonated from the Packers’ choosing quarterback Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The team believed they found maximum value sitting at the 26th overall position considering Rodgers was in his mid-30’s and likely to have only a few more superstar seasons left in the gas tank.
However, Rodgers was dismayed that the team had not reached out and informed him of their intended first-round target and the heir to his throne. It didn’t sit well with Rodgers then and his disenchantment was only exacerbated after the Packers took a defensive player, Georgia cornerback Eric Stokes, in the first round of the 2021 draft as opposed to getting Rodgers an offensive weapon to add to his arsenal.
Shortly after April’s draft, Rodgers demanded a trade and reportedly whittled the three teams down to the Broncos, 49ers, and Raiders. Packers’ management made it very clear they would not budge and Rodgers ultimately decided to acquiesce, much to the delight of Packers fans everywhere. If you visited an NFL forum right around this time you would know there were bettors ready to plunk down wagers on whichever team Rodgers landed to win this season’s Super Bowl. But because he stood pat, the Packers were still one of the favorites at +1200, trailing only the Chiefs (+500), and the Bucs (+650), to win it all. You should always make sure to check out the latest NFL picks if you’re thinking about getting in the action.
Rodgers Goes Viral
When asked about his vaccination status at an August 26th, 2021 news conference Rodgers replied, “Yeah, I’m immunized.” Notice he didn’t say vaccinated but immunized, as Rodgers subsequently admitted he hadn’t been vaccinated but took homeopathic remedies to effectively build up his body’s immunity to the novel coronavirus.
During an August press conference, Rodgers spoke about the National Football League’s guidelines ahead of the 2021 season.
“You know, there’s a lot of conversation around it, around the league, and a lot of guys who have made statements and not made statements, owners who have made statements,” he said at the time. “There’s guys on the team that haven’t been vaccinated. I think it’s a personal decision. I’m not going to judge those guys. There are guys that’ve been vaccinated that have contracted COVID. It’s an interesting issue that I think we’re going to see played out the entire season.”
After it was discovered that Rodgers had contracted the novel coronavirus, he said he did his own research, and in his mind, immunized himself without getting vaccinated.
“I didn’t lie in the initial press conference,” Rodgers declared on The Pat McAfee Show on November 5th. “And at the time my plan was to say I’ve been immunized. It wasn’t some sort of ruse or lie … I found an immunization protocol that could best protect me and my teammates. And it was a long-term protocol that involved multiple months.”
The lawyers of the world had to share a momentary grin upon pondering the semantics of Rodgers’ dalliance with the truth but the NFL was certainly not smiling after he contracted COVID-19 and was put in medical protocols. Rodgers had also been asked in August about his perspective on the NFL’s guidelines and the pandemic in general.
The smoke has already cleared from this embarrassing episode and it has cost Rodgers not only a game away from the team, which happened to be a 13-7 loss to the Chiefs, but an endorsement with Wisconsin-based Prevea Health. The company went on record saying the parting was “mutual”.
As to how this will affect the team going forward, it’s already been pretty much of a nothing burger in terms of the team welcoming Rodgers back to the fold. The Packers defeated one of the best teams in the NFC, the Los Angeles Rams, last week despite an offensive line that was in tatters and a quarterback who is dealing with an injured toe.
The Pack is back and they are, along with the Cardinals and Bucs, one of the favorites to cop the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Aaron Rodgers may not have many more games left in Green Bay but he’s got the remainder of the regular season and a postseason ahead to bring one more Lombardi Trophy back to the Cheeseheads who never want to see him leave.
He never lied to his team mates, his team, or the league. As you stated, this is a nothing burger. Winning cures all. Who else thinks he slammed his toe while walking to the bathroom in the pitch black of night?
No his woman bit his toe. She seems like she may do that. My kind of girl.
Antonio Brown lies and deceives over COVID and gets a three game suspension. Aaron Rodgers lies and deceives over COVID and gets a 14,500 dollar fine. If I’m the rest of the NFL, I’m as mad as hell and I let Rodger Goodell know it. All of us are bound by rules and contracts. Unless of course your Aaron Fucking Rodgers and then you above such things. Of course he isn’t, and he over played his hand. Not only when when he demanded to be traded but also over his “immunization” farce. Aaron Rodgers is finding out the hard way the world isn’t his oyster. Even the most ardent Packer fans are questioning, “is he really worth all this drama?” A SB victory would help erase much of the negativity surrounding the diva. Anything less and he’ll be wearing a Steeler uniform next year. Another loss in the NFCC game after telling us he’s the “Michael Jordan” of the NFL won’t cut it.
“If i’m the rest of the NFL.
I’m mad as hell and I go cry to Rodger Goodell because, that’s what I do best. Cry about Aaron Rodgers….constantly” – Princess
The diference is one provided a fake imunization card and one was a bit evasive in answering a question. Glad you got your facts together before you contacted Goodell. If you really did he is no doubt laughimg a you.
Is story is old news, reminds me of click bait.
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We are still waiting for Tom and Jason to admit they were wrong when they said Arod lied to his teammates about his vaccine status… crickets…
Hard to let some things go around here.
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News Flash…Rodgers isn’t the perfect human being.
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I say we stone the decietfull bastard to death.
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Or trade him. I hear that Jordan Love is game day ready.
There’s a double standard here but I don’t expect you girls to see it. It’s perfectly fine for Aaron Rodgers to lie and deceive the public over COVID. It’s a public safety issue that’s bigger than the NFL. But when Antonio Brown lies and deceives the NFL, he gets a three game suspension. According to the NFL, you can lie to everyone else and we’ll look the other way, just don’t lie to us. The NFL and the Green Bay Packers were complicit in the Rodgers situation because he’s one of their biggest stars. They knew he was unvaccinated and didn’t wear a mask. Yet did nothing. It wasn’t until he got COVID himself that the whole farce was exposed. But perhaps you ladies do think magic crystals and horse deworming medication is a way to “immunize” yourself against a deadly virus. And don’t think for a minute other teams aren’t in the commissioner’s ear over this. Especially if losing AB cost the Bucs in playoff seeding. And I don’t blame them. According to Dean, Rodgers behavior is perfectly acceptable so long as he told his teammates and fuck the media, the public, and whomever else he exposed. Sure Dean, time for you an PF4L to crawl back up Erin’s ass.
Translation…Waaaa!
So tom, are you are standing by your lie that Arod lied to his team mates about his vaccination status?
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I know it is hard, but stick to the subject and do not distract by saying things I did not write.
Dean, you seem to be fixated on what Aaron Rodgers told his teammates. It’s reasonable to assume that he told his teammates the same thing he told the NFL, the Packers, and the media that he was “immunized.” That sir, is ball faced lie. Now, he did say he wouldn’t judge others who were not vaccinated. But that hardly clarifies his status. There in lies the issue Dean. Aaron Rodgers should have maned up and said what he meant and meant what he said from the get go. Much like Kirk Cousins, Carson Wentz, and Cole Beasley. Let us know where you stand and play by the rules. It’s a free country. You want to take the risk? Fine. But I’m not taking it with you. Wear a fucking mask! It’s the ambiguity I take issue with. And he pulled the same bullshit in the offseason. He would never address any of these so called “issues” with management until his 20 minutes presser at the start of camp after months of playing games in the media. Aaron Rodgers is out of touch with reality. The rules don’t apply to him, his contract doesn’t apply to him. He should be given everything he wants whenever he wants it. All because he’s Aaron fucking Rodgers! And all you fanboys still can’t get enough.
It’s also reasonable to assume that you have a unhealthy fixation.
Get professional help. Please.
I pay some attention to the NFL in general. Not nearly as much as the Packers. When discussing Brown’s punishment by the NFL one must remember that Brown had Covid in week 3 and missed the week 3 game. Brown first tested positive on a Wednesday before the week 3 game. The rules require an unvaccinated player to quarantine for a minimum of 10 days after testing positive. That means, in part, staying away from the facility. Rogers had to do so. One of the problems with Brown deceiving the NFL is Brown was taken off the Covid list the following Thursday from his positive test. Brown was able to practice with TB for three days before the New England game. That should not have been the case. Brown really should have not been able to practice or be with the team until at least Saturday, the day before the Away game at NE. The fact that Brown was able to practice with the team 3 extra days than allowed by the rules could have had a impact on the outcome of a NFL game. Of all teams, NE may have had a legitimate complaint with the NFL.
So far this year Brown has only played in five games. Brown has been injured most of the year, and is currently injured. TB’s head coach has already said Brown would miss at least the next two games with a heel injury. The NFL is being kind to Brown and TB. Brown may only miss one game because of the suspension. The good thing for TB is they won’t have to pay Brown for 2 or 3 of those injured weeks now that Brown is suspended.
Appreciate the voice of reason Howard, as always.
Whether Antonio Brown got COVID in week 3 or week 13, or anywhere in between isn’t the point. Neither is the fact that he’s been injured. The issue here is should Aaron Rodgers also face a three game suspension? For all of you so concerned about playoff seeding, imagine Jordan Love having to start the next three games and how that would effect the playoffs. I guarantee you Arizona, Tampa, LA, Dallas and any other team that thinks they’ve got a shot at the playoffs in the NFC is demanding an explanation from the league office. If some poor bastard like Royce Newman had pulled this shit, Goodell would have thrown the book at him. But since it’s Aaron Rodgers, who’s good for business, Rodger Goodell looked the other way. He knew and did nothing which makes the NFL culpable. And he would have gotten away with it had Rodgers not gotten COVID. This has always been the biggest criticism of Rodger Goodell. Rather than have a consistent disciplinary policy. It’s always been hit and miss.
The issue with you is always Rodgers.
Even if the story involves somebody else.
How long can you continue to whine and cry about Rodgers?
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Tell us something interesting for a change.
Like how Gute guaranteed Gary’s 5th year option, before he got here.
Educate all us “girls”.
The teams you list can find an explanation of Covid disciplinary action in the NFL-NFLPA Covid-19 protocols for 2021 NFL regular season. Those protocols were agreed to by the NFL and NFLPA . In part that agreement included structures for fines if players are not in compliance with testing and protocols. For example a player can be fined $50,000 for refusing testing. In addition unvaccinated players can be fined for not wearing masks at agreed times and locations, or not wearing tracking devices to determine close contacts, etc. Several players have been fined for such violations. Those fines have been $14,650 as agreed upon by the parties. If a player continues to violate the agreement then they can have additional fines and or loss of a game check, or suspensions. Rogers was fined the same amount as several other NFL players for their first violations of the protocols.
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The difference is Brown falsified/misrepresented his status to the NFL. Rodgers did not falsify his status to the NFL. Rogers may have mislead the press and NFL fan bases, but those groups are not parties to the agreement between the NFL and NFLPA.
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When Brown falsified his status he changed the league approved time line for return to his team potentially impacting on the field product. The falsification of vaccination status and/or vaccination documents by Brown is an entire different violation than Rodgers and several other players have been fined. No matter how much you dislike Rodgers, the rules and fines for breaking those rules were determined by the NFL and NFLPA prior to the season. To fine Rogers more than other players who fell under the same violations would not comply with the agreement.
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If you can’t see that Brown’s violation is different than Rodgers and several other players I don’t know what else I can add. You could contact the NFL and NFLPA and voice your displeasure with their mutual agreement regarding Covid rules for the NFL 2021 season. I’m sure they can provide you with a more detailed explanation than I can, but the conclusion will be the same. The NFL treated Rogers the same as other NFL players with the same violation(s) as per the agreement between the NFL and NFLPA.
Howard with the MF’n Mic drop.
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Suck it ya fucking cry babies. Who would’ve thought that doing your own research could give you more answers than incessantly whining about shit you don’t know anything about?
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“If some poor bastard like Royce Newman had pulled this shit, Goodell would have thrown the book at him. But since it’s Aaron Rodgers, who’s good for business, Rodger Goodell looked the other way.”
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Your blind vendetta towards Rodgers and half assed arguments are exhausting.
The below link has the protocols for the 2021 regular season as agreed by the NFL-NFLPA. If anyone is interested in contacting and complaining to the NFL about the injustice of the fine levied on Rodgers they may want to read the below first. The fines are toward the back of the document.
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https://static.www.nfl.com/image/upload/v1635965965/league/fmq0qpr18ehrlk8nmvib.pdf
Who would have thought that the 2021 protocols for covid would be 98 pages long? (only lawyers,,,,,LOL) Good work looking into this, and thanks for sharing it Howard!
I think Rob Born and Paul Edwards are lawyers and both of them appear to be very nice guys, as long as you are not on the other side of the argument. :-). Thanks Mick.
Howard is without a doubt the MVP on this site.
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I merely provide some color commentary for you fine people.
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Even if I only entertain one or two people, I’m good with that.
This is why when it’s the NFC Championship game the Packers players don’t rally around Rodgers like they rally around Tom Brady. It’s about trust. Rodgers is the smartest guy on the team and has one of the best arms in the history of the game, but when crunch time comes do his teammates trust that he’s on their side or is he on Aaron Rodgers side only. You don’t play your heart out for a guy who is duplicitous.
Let’s not pretend you know Rodgers relationship with his teammates
As if you were in the locker room and had actual knowledge about it.
I mean, it’s a lie to say the vaccine immunizes you too. Because at this point it clearly doesn’t. It can’t even be considered a vaccine at this point, it is a prophylactic. The goal posts moved on it from 95% effectiveness at preventing infection to “you won’t die.” Could you even imagine the polio vaccine not preventing you from polio, but simply you won’t die? The polio vaccine is an actual real vaccine. The medical treatment governments around the world are attempting to force on people aren’t
Kato, I posted awhile back how the definition was changed by the CDC a few months ago. Jason said something about my post as a straw-man argument :-). Bottom line, with the NFL doing a 180 on testing last week, Arod was correct when He called out the NFL protocols as just there to shame the unvaxxed and make it look like the NFL was following “science”. Arod was also correct when He stated that the lag time between when vaxxed players were tested allowed them to be super spreaders — the Browns were 100% vaxxed, not sure about the other teams. Hopefully the NFL stops testing all the players going forward and we can get on with our lives as Americans enjoying football. Nice to be able to attend games jammed packed with people enjoying themselves again! Here is an explanation of the CDC changed vaccine meaning:
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention modified its definition of the words “vaccine” and “vaccination” on its website. Before the change, the definition for “vaccination” read, “the act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease.” Now, the word “immunity” has been switched to “protection.” The term “vaccine” also got a makeover. The CDC’s definition changed from “a product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease” to the current “a preparation that is used to stimulate the body’s immune response against diseases.”
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Yeah Dean that is the thing that bothers me. I have heard people scream incessantly “follow the science.” I have a biology and chemistry degree, and this response has been anything but “follow the science.” The whole thing has been hyper politicized by team red and team blue. A lot of people are getting very rich off of this crisis, and it seems to involve big pharma and congressmen that engaged in insider trading, aka policy makers in this country. Moderna stock went from 27 bucks a share in March 2020 to nearly 500 bucks a share. Guess who profited like crazy from that?