Aaron Rodgers and Covid: A Thanksgiving Analysis

NinaIllingworth November 17, 2021November 5, 2022 Aaron Rodgers, Allen Lazard, allergies, anti-vax death cult, bad faith, CA4, Charles Minnich, class analysis, class war, conspiracy theory, conspiracy thinking, coronavirus, Covid 19, Covid death toll, COVID disinformation, Covid eugenics, excuses, Football, FotB, Friends of the Blog, Global Pandemic, Green Bay Packers, health, Ivermectin, Joe Rogan, lie, Mason Crosby, Media, MLK, monoclonal antibodies, MP6, National Football League, NFL, NFL COVID protocols, Opinion, pandemic, pandemic protocols, Podcast, Popular Culture, PR tour, public health, public health protocols, public relations, rich people, Rodgers lied, spin, Sports, State Farm, Take Downs, Thanksgiving, vaccine, vaccine mandates, Wisconsin, Wisconsin politics

Editor’s note: as regular readers will know, I’m always absolutely thrilled to welcome a new writer here on NIDC as part of our Friends of the Blog initiative; and that’s precisely what we’ve got on today’s docket. Please give a warm welcome to Wisconsinite and podcaster extraordinaire Charles Minnich, as he explores the intersection of celebrity, privilege, and responsibility towards the common good in an unlikely place; the National Football League.

Fourth and Wrong

This week, as I prepare for another Sunday of watching the Packers game, per Wisconsin tradition, I am filled with no small measure of dread. This isn’t the fandom dread of the Majikowski era or the latter years of Brett Favre’s career, but a revulsion at the conduct of our star quarterback. Sure, fans in Detroit and Chicago have no reason to look forward to seeing Rodgers’ face in their sports section, and now Wisconsinites will be left with their emotions about the events of the past week. While we can pretty quickly put aside feelings about football, with some going so far as to support the Vikings or Bears against all sense and reason, the Covid pandemic continues to rage across our state and the world. This is not sport, but a deadly virus that is absolutely not a game except to the most privileged among us.

Like everything political in the Badger state, feelings about football and the pandemic are very complicated. Masking and vaccination mandates have driven anti-vax fanatics to their local school boards in ginned-up outrage. With Thanksgiving conversations about football and COVID looming large, it is important to consider the facts of the matter. Aaron Rodgers lied to the public and said he was vaccinated, although he added that he wouldn’t judge those teammates who refused. But that was back in August. Fast forward to today and we come to find out through a positive test for COVID, that he was lying all along. A lie complicated by the knowledgeable complicity of everyone involved, from the Packers players and organization, to league officials.

Of course, a scandal involving the famous number 12 is a live hand grenade for the NFL. Rodgers is an athlete with a heavy presence in the media and is under scrutiny the entire year, not just the football season. Instead of just being forced to bench him for his unvaccinated status, the league and players union agreed to consult an outside expert, who subsequently ruled that Rodgers should be considered unvaccinated for purposes of complying with the NFL’s COVID policies. Going with the worst response possible, Rodgers chose to appeal this decision with a 500 page data dump on the efficacy of vaccines, which predictably did not change anything, but is in keeping with his tact through the entire affair. Photos from the Packers’ webpage show that he has been flagrantly violating NFL protocols, traveling unmasked with other players, instead of masked and by himself, and these are just the violations in broad daylight.

After the NFL review of the Packers’ covid policies, the organization was fined $300,000. In continuing his defiance of COVID protocols, Rodgers went to a Halloween party in a culmination of his year-long John Wick costume project, violating the protocols agreed by the league and players association that unvaccinated players refrain from gatherings of more than three people. Rodgers and wide receiver Allen Lazard were each fined $14,500 for the infraction by the NFL. The team subsequently went out and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs; who were led by a rookie with minimal experience, yet still managed to create opportunities for Mason Crosby to flub. But the damage done by this scandal to the Packers’ reputation is far greater than another integer in the loss column.

To begin to combat this loss of reputation, Rodgers has made numerous media appearances and offered several reasons for his reluctance to get the vaccine. To some who have had anaphylactic responses to vaccines, these may sound like hollow excuses. We have all been subject to this terrible, pandemic-infused dystopia and a lot of us have had to make impossible decisions. For some, it has been whether to continue keeping someone on a respirator, but to a cushy subset of humanity, they have a choice in whether or not to get the vaccine. For them, it’s rational that they can avoid seeing other people because of their job and material conditions. They don’t have to get on public transit or take care of immunocompromised relatives. Sure, they probably worry about them, but the best care on offer probably provides a lot of peace of mind. Not that it has been part of my personal experience. So amidst the talk of allergies and carbon dioxide, as happens 99% of the time someone attempts to invoke the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., they are making excuses and justifications, and almost always doing so in bad faith, just as Aaron Rodgers did. An individual responsibility for care of the commons is something intrinsic to Leftism, but it is a personal choice for those who will get the finest treatments available, regardless of whether they take steps personally to avoid the virus.

Not content to let the matter lie, pay the fine, and hope that the fans will still purchase jerseys and memorabilia, and continue to pay for Lambeau Field tickets, Aaron Rodgers has made a whirlwind TV talk show and podcast PR tour, to spread misinformation about COVID. Besides monoclonal antibodies, he has also been taking Ivermectin. But these details are immaterial. Rodgers was casually reckless with his life and those of his colleagues, media personnel in his press conference, their relatives, and the people in our community.

How many people did Aaron Rodgers expose to Covid-19? Hopefully none, but there is no way to be certain. As of this writing, 9,679 people in Wisconsin have died of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, 5 since Rodgers’ lie came spilling out into the public for all to see. Beyond fines that are probably too small, there won’t be any material consequences for these lies. State Farm won’t cancel their contract with Aaron Rodgers. How many lives have been and will be destroyed because of Aaron Rodgers’ misinformation? Will Rodgers continue to have a future in Green Bay?

Ultimately, we are left with an even more important question; what happened? What happened to the Aaron Rodgers from 2018 who smiled in a full page ad after he received an honorary Doctorate from the Medical Colleges of Wisconsin for his commitment to end childhood cancers and blood disorders? Nothing. Nothing happened, time is still linear, and Aaron Rodgers is a privileged, rich white guy who suddenly had reality forced upon him by virtue of a positive COVID test. To me, that is the crux of this issue. Rather than being a rare spot of unity with my neighbors and fellow Wisconsinites, the curtain has been forcibly pulled back and we have been reminded that these are rich men playing rich men games who only vaguely care about the consequences.

Rodgers gets paid for his gridiron heroics, not medical advice. Like an inopportune red zone interception, you can’t take back exposing someone to COVID or spreading misinformation about its prevention and treatment. The games will go on, but no Hail Mary can regain the respect number 12 and the Packers have lost. Some things are just bigger than football.