A very pointed question. Aaron Rodgers wasn’t happy after a podcaster asked him about the potential consequences of his controversial stance on the COVID-19 vaccine.
“How many people do you think you killed?” Eric “PFT Commenter” Sollenberger, cohost of Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast, asked the NFL player, 38, during the Monday, August 8, episode of the show. “What’s your count?”
Dan “Big Cat” Katz chimed in to add: “How many grandmothers? Let’s just do grandmothers.”
The Green Bay Packers quarterback smiled and shook his head, but his comments indicated he wasn’t pleased with the line of questioning. “I know you guys are f–king around, but I don’t find that part funny,” he told the hosts. “I really don’t.”
Rodgers’ controversial stance on the coronavirus vaccine made numerous headlines last year after the athlete seemingly lied about his own vaccine status. In August 2021, the California native told reporters that he’d been “immunized,” but questions began to arise three months later when he tested positive for the illness.
The Super Bowl champion then revealed that he hadn’t received any of the CDC-approved vaccinations against COVID-19, but he maintained that saying he was “immunized” was not misleading.
“It wasn’t some sort of ruse or lie, it was the truth,” Rodgers said during a November 2021 episode of The Pat McAfee Show. “Had there been a follow-up to my statement that I’d been immunized, I would have responded with this: I would have said, ‘Look, I’m not some sort of anti-vax flat-Earther. I’m somebody who’s a critical thinker. I march to the beat of my own drum. I believe strongly in bodily autonomy, [in the] ability to make choices for your body, not to have to acquiesce to some woke culture or crazed group of individuals who say you have to do something.'”
The former Jeopardy! host went on to claim that he is allergic to an ingredient in mRNA vaccines, so he decided to pursue an alternative “immunization protocol.” He tried to petition the NFL to get the plan approved, but the league told him that he would remain in the unvaccinated category.
Rodgers was ultimately fined $14,650 for breaking COVID-19 protocols put in place by the NFL and the players’ union. The Packers, meanwhile, were also fined $300,000.
The former University of California, Berkeley student later claimed that NFL fans wanted the Packers to lose during the playoffs because of his comments about the vaccine.
“There were a ton of people tuning in rooting against us for one reason, and one reason only,” he said during a January appearance on The Pat McAfee Show after the San Francisco 49ers knocked the Wisconsin team out of contention. “It’s because of my vaccination status and them wanting to see us lose so they could pile on and enjoy and revel in the fact that my vaccination status was some sort of reason why we haven’t had success in the playoffs.”
