Packers star Aaron Rodgers had a meltdown for the ages, in response to criticism after testing positive for coronavirus when he'd previously indicated he was "immunized."
Instead of simply apologizing for the word games and fessing up, the reigning MVP was defiant.
During an uninterrupted 15-minute rant -- which Rodgers at one point accurately described as a "diatribe" -- on the Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers spewed all manner of anti-vaccine falsehoods and reactionary nonsense.
What animated Rodgers' embarrassing tantrum, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted, was not simply a clarification or disagreement about his vaccine situation.
Instead, it was mostly about his apparently overwhelming urge to fire back at those who dared to have the temerity to criticize him for his misleading semantics.
The offenders, according to A-Rod, are a familiar who's who of reactionary bogeymen: Cancel culture, the woke mob, witch hunt, The Left, etc.
As well, Rodgers seems to have told more whoppers during his soliloquy -- including claiming that an NFL physician told him that vaccinated players can't catch or transmit Covid. The league swiftly denied this allegation.
But perhaps even more alarming than Rodgers' doubling down on lying, was his warped worldview and the utterly twisted and nonsensical justifications he offered up for his "decision" to skip the vaccine.
The future Hall of Famer at one point had the nerve to invoke the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., paraphrasing his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
"The great MLK said, you have a moral obligation to object to unjust rules and rules that make no sense."
At another, he seemed to invoke feminist language to support his embrace of what he called "bodily autonomy."
"What about, 'my body, my choice?' Rodgers asked.
Later, he had the nerve to claim his vaccine hesitancy was in solidarity with working people, and railed against the "coercion" of workplace mandates.
Elsewhere, his unscientific claims were too many to count:
- a supposed "allergy" to an unspecified mRNA vaccine ingredient
- allusions to the vaccines causing fertility issues
- suggesting he took Ivermectin at the recommendation of controversial podcast host and vaccine skeptic Joe Rogan
- the dangers of carbon dioxide poisoning while wearing a mask during workouts
Remember, this is someone who has long been celebrated as one of the league's headiest and most thoughtful players -- famously touted as qualified for hosting Jeopardy!
Then again, in the land of reality TV presidents and reality TV "intellectuals" with large podcast followings, the anti-vax QB can pass as a "genius" quiz show host.
Rodgers has long enjoyed darling status among fans and media, the low-key, pop culture-loving brainiac from the State Farm commercials with a string of A-list girlfriends.
Now, after a long, fruitful career, he's thrown in his lot on the wrong side of an important issue -- and revealed himself to be an ignorant crybaby in the process.
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