New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said in a soon-to-be-released biography that he regrets how he discussed his COVID-19 immunization status in 2021.
In August 2021, Rodgers told reporters during a training camp session for the Green Bay Packers — his team at the time — that he had "been immunized" when asked whether he was vaccinated. Rodgers came under fire after he tested positive for COVID-19 three months later and was sidelined for 10 days.
"If there's one thing I wish could have gone different, it's that, because that's the only thing [critics] could hit me with," ESPN reported Rodgers told author Ian O'Connor for the biography, "Out of The Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers," which hits bookshelves next week.
Rodgers said in the book his main reason for claiming he was “immunized” was the statement represented “the crux of my appeal," ESPN reported.
The four-time NFL MVP unsuccessfully appealed to the league that his homeopathic treatment regimen should have qualified him as vaccinated but was unsuccessful. He also said at the time he had an allergy to an ingredient in the mRNA vaccines — polyethylene glycol — and had concerns about the Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
He reportedly told O'Connor that if he could do it again, he would have said "f‑‑‑ 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,'" he said, per ESPN.
"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,'" Rodgers said. "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."
The book includes interviews with 250 people, including Rodgers, and covers other parts of the player's life, including his estrangement from his family, his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon and his football career, The Associated Press reported.
Rodgers's misleading statements about the coronavirus vaccine impacted his partnership with health care organization Prevea Health, which was terminated after the vaccination scandal emerged.
