COVID CLAIMS
Aaron Rodgers admits regret over ‘immunized’ remark which sparked uproar but claims he wasn’t trying to mislead
Rodgers has played down a bust-up with Garrett Wilson
NEW York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has admitted he regrets telling reporters he was "immunized" against Covid.
In November 2021, the superstar signal caller tested positive for the virus and was sidelined for a minimum of 10 days as an unvaccinated player.
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Rodgers - a Green Bay Packer at the time - had appealed to the NFL to have the homeopathic treatment he underwent qualify him as vaccinated.
Three months earlier, he claimed to be "immunized" in a preseason news conference.
Rogers, 40, was criticized for his misleading comments and the league turned down his appeal.
He later claimed on The Pat McAfee Show that he had discovered he was allergic to polyethylene glycol (PEG) in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines by conducting his own research.
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Author Ian O'Connor is set to release an unauthorized biography of Rodgers this month.
"But if I could do it again, I would have said [in August], f**k the appeal. I'm just going to tell them I'm allergic to PEG, I'm not getting Johnson & Johnson, I'm not going to be vaxxed," Rodgers says in the book titled Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers.
"I had an immunization card from my holistic doctor, which looked similar.
"I wasn't trying to pawn it off as a vaccine card, but I said, 'Listen, here's my protocol. Here's what you can follow to look this up.'
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"And it was an ongoing appeal. So, if I had just said [I was unvaccinated] in the moment, there's no chance that the appeal would have been handled the exact same way."
Rodgers was traded to the Jets in April 2023.
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They are owned by Woody Johnson - heir to the Johnson & Johnson family's pharmaceutical empire.
Rodgers told O'Connor that he has joked with Jets vice chairman Christopher Johnson, who is Woody's brother, about his refusal to take the company's vaccine.
Earlier this month, Rodgers and wide receiver Garrett Wilson played down a viral training camp bust-up.
Footage of the NFL stars engaged in two heated discussions was widely circulated.
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"He's got to get on my page, but I have to get on his page, too," Rodgers said.
"Because he's got a whole book that I need to understand fully.
"A skill set and ability and feel and rhythm and all the different things that he does out there.
"So those are good conversations. They might appear to be much more heated than they are, but there's usually a smile on our face afterward - at least one of us."
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"It's truly enlightening for me every time we have problems like that, despite how it may look, just because I am an emotional, passionate guy," Wilson added.
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"So, when we lose, I might look a certain way, but in reality, all those conversations, those things are helping me be better for Aaron because he can make your life real easy.
"So, for me, it's my job to be on my details and he's been on me about those details."