Green Bay Packers 37-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers finds himself in the middle of the maelstrom related to his recent bout of Covid-19, after telling the media in June he was “immunized,’ something sports journalistS like Bob Costas said was a lie. Rodgers clarified that his medical team was concerned about a possible allergic reaction to the mRNA Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, also concerned about blood clots with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Whatever Rodgers medical team feared, they went the alternative rout giving last season’s MVP ivermectin and hydroxychroloquine, two off-label medications not shown to have much efficacy with the deadly novel coronavirus. Rodgers told the Pat McAfee Show yesterday that had journalists asked whether or not he was vaccinated, he would have said “no.” Yet Bob Costas accuses Rodgers to lying to the public, says it would hurt his reputation.
Sports journalists frustrated with Rodgers response now say he endangered his teammates, even the Packers season by not following NFL rules and segregating himself because was not vaccinated. League officials think after the rocky off-season with Rodgers, they didn’t want to rock the boat again, risking another boycott. Journalists envy the 2011 Super Bowl Champion, not because he’s one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time but he’s got the most media appeal [Q] and natural charisma than any other professional athlete. Testing positive for Covid-19, you’d think Rodgers committed an unpardonable sin. Forget about double-vaccinated Los Angeles Mayor Erick Garcetti who contracted Covid-19 while attending the World Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Garcetti isn’t criticized by the press because he took his Covid-19 vaccines in a dutiful way.
Rodgers’ critics have come out of the woodwork demanding that the ever-unpopular NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell punish him to the fullest extent of league rules, including fining the team and Rodgers for violating league protocols. It just happens that amidst all the hubbub over Rodgers today, the 5th Court of Appeal in New Orleans placed a stay on 78-year-old Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates due to go into effect Nov. 9. Staying Biden’s mandates for businesses with 100-or-more employees throws a monkey wrench into all the Rodgers haters, who now realize that Biden jumped the gun with existing federal law mandating Covid-19 vaccines. If Biden can’t mandate Covid-19 vaccines, the NFL and other sports leagues also can’t mandate its players and employees get vaccinated. Biden’s Sept. 9 Covid-19 vaccine mandates violated the 1992 federal Patients Bill of Rights.
Rodgers whole point in deciding to resist the NFL’s vaccine mandates stems from the patients right to choose treatments under the 1992 Patients Bill of Rights. Whether the vaccines are safe-and-effective as promised by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] and Food and Drug Administration [FDA] doesn’t mean that they are safe-and-effective. When you hear about so-called breakthrough infections of vaccinated people like Garcetti, it makes you wonder about the efficacy of vaccines to prevent infection. All the Covid-19 rules flow from the White House mandates, giving the government the power to force vaccines on U.S. citizens. Today’s ruling in the 5th Court of Appeal suggests that the court is having second thoughts about vaccines. Punishing Rodgers or the Packers does nothing to deal with basic medical privacy issues now litigated in the courts.
Everyone in the sports media industry wanting to throw the book at Rodgers doesn’t know whether or not the NFL has the legal right to enforce vaccine mandates on its players and employees. Presenting photos of Rodgers traveling with the team or not wearing a mask in post-game interviews proves nothing. If Rodgers has an oversized ego like Costas or othes in the press think, why would he speak to the media to clarify his position on vaccines? Rodgers wasn’t obligated to speak to the media and was probably hurting his own cause giving public statements. Rodgers called himself a “victim of the woke mob,” because he sees what happens when you run afoul with the media. Media elites like Costas call Rodgers “arrogant,” asking the NFL to put down the hammer. But whether NFL Commissioner admits it or not, Rodgers commands the NFL’s TV audience, not league officials.
Before the NFL looks vindictive to millions of fans that support Rodgers, they should at least get the facts right about vaccine mandates. Today’s ruling in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals means that Biden’s Sept. 9 vaccine mandates are now in question. No one from the CDC or FDA can say with any certainty that current Covid-19 protocols stop the spread of the virus, including NFL rules to have unvaccinated players travel separately from vaccinated players. Rodgers followed his doctor’s advice not to take the two mRNA vaccines or J&J vaccine do to potential adverse reactions. Calling Rodgers “a solar system sized-ego” completely misses the point about following the 1992 federal Patients Bill of Rights that gives every citizen the right to medical privacy and right to refuse a treatment for whatever reason. Rodgers’ stand on vaccines doesn’t betray anyone, only questions its legality.
