Aaron Rodgers bashes Fauci for pleading the Fifth at Senate hearing, reigniting NFL vaccine debate

Aaron Rodgers #8 of the New York Jets looks on before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Jacksonville, Florida.

When asked about his mindset going into his final NFL season during an episode of ESPN’s “The Patt McAfee Show” Pittsburgh Steelers four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers, instead turned the conversation to heavily criticize Dr. Anthony Fauci following his hearing last week when he refused to answer any questions from lawmakers.

“Can you tell us about your mindset coming into your last season?” Pat McAfee asked.

“I’m gonna plead the Fifth like that absolute coward Tony Fauci. Absolute coward. Are you kidding me? You get a pardon and you’re and you pleaded over 100 times at the White House? What are you scared of, Tony? I thought you were the science. ‘I am science,’ and you get up there and can’t answer a question? What are we doing,” Rogers said.

The quarterback referenced an infamous response by Fauci in a 2021 interview where he upheld his COVID-19 policies by saying “I am the science.”

At the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing led by Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times. The questioning focused on Fauci’s pandemic response and policy choices, as the former chief medical advisor faced accusations of funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China.

Long before Aaron Rodgers criticized the former government health official on “The Pat McAfee Show,” he drew heavy public criticism for claiming he was “immunized” while withholding that he had not received a COVID-19 vaccine.

 

However, he later clarified he meant he was undergoing an alternative, homeopathic treatment protocol designed to raise his antibody levels, rather than receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, which contained an ingredient he had an allergy for.

What started as a controversy over his personal vaccination status quickly expanded into a broader debate encompassing NFL protocols, vaccine mandates, big pharma and Fauci directly.

“Spending the entire time writing in his diary about how fun it is to be famous. You gotta be kidding me,” Rodgers continued. “What are you going to say about me now? Seriously, what are they going to say about me now? Now, you can’t talk about the COVID stuff because obviously it was made in a lab in China. That’s like not even questionable anymore. Tony Fauci is an absolute criminal.”

“It’s been a great life and a great career, and it’s nice to be sitting on this side now especially after that coward pled the Fifth over 100 times. I thought you had a pardon there, Tony. Why couldn’t you answer one question the entire time?”

Rodgers stated he could not take the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines due to an allergy to polyethylene glycol, an ingredient in both shots. He added that concerns over reported side effects led him to avoid the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as well. Instead, he submitted details of an alternative immunization protocol to the NFL, but the league rejected his request to classify him as vaccinated.

The veteran quarterback went on to bash ESPN after what he described as a failure to provide enough coverage regarding the scandal with former NFL insider Dianna Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.

“What is the network doing?” Rodgers said. “You have literally an individual that maybe used to work at ESPN that covers our league at the highest level, and there’s a major scandal, and it’s just like nobody can (expletive) talk about it? What are we even doing here?”