Green Bay Packers’ controversial quarterback Aaron Rodgers said that people were cheering for the 49ers to beat them because he’s not vaccinated.
Rodgers made the remarks during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday.
“There were a ton of people tuning in, rooting against us for one reason and one reason only,” he commented. “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.”
Rodgers said that he’s been receiving hate due to “fear” around COVID, that the media has been playing a big role in that by putting out “fear porn” that causes a lot of “strife and stress” to Americans.
“Because I don’t subscribe to the same type of mainstream narrative at times and have decided to take my own personal health in my hands, and did my research … and also my association with other people who have done similar things, there’s anger kind of thrown my way,” Rodgers explained.
“But the root of that, I think is fear,” he continued. “So I do have empathy for those people who are caught in this fear state around COVID.”
The Packers were knocked out of the playoffs by the 49ers last weekend with a 13-10 loss, after clinching the NFC East with a 13-5 season.
Comedian Aziz Ansari, who is on a comeback tour after being canceled for #MeToo era sexual misconduct allegations, ripped Rodgers for his vaccination views in the new Netflix special, “Nightclub Comedian.”
“It’s like, alright. Calm down. He’s a football player,” Ansari said in a clip. “He read some articles. He got skeptical. He did some research. Are you stunned he came to the wrong conclusion?”
“Did you really think he was gonna crack the case? Did you think Fauci was gonna be out there, like, ‘I just got off the phone with Aaron Rodgers?’ This poor guy,” he mocked. “It’s like we’re all in high school and we’re making fun of the quarterback for doing bad on the science test.”
Our first stand-up special of 2022: @AzizAnsari – Nightclub Comedian, out now. pic.twitter.com/FIhTCWcyNN
— Netflix Is A Joke (@NetflixIsAJoke) January 25, 2022
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It’s okay Ansari. Why don’t you stick to subjects you know more about, like sexual misconduct. There is much more comedy material in that area.