Aaron Rodgers is one of the best-ever quarterbacks to play in the NFL, but it’s often his antics off the field that get the most people talking.
Rodgers — who was the Green Bay Packers superstar quarterback for 18 seasons before joining the New York Jets in April 2023 — came under fire in November 2021 when it was revealed he misled people about his COVID-19 vaccination status when he told reporters that he was “immunized” when he hadn’t actually been vaccinated.
The athlete defended his use of the phrase, calling it “the truth.”
“Had there been a follow-up to my statement that I’d been immunized, I would have responded with this: I would have said, ‘Look, I’m not some sort of anti-vax-flat-Earther. I’m somebody who’s a critical thinker,’” Rodgers later explained on the Pat McAfee Show. “I march to the beat of my own drum. I believe strongly in bodily autonomy, [in the] ability to make choices for your body, not to have to acquiesce to some woke culture or crazed group of individuals who say you have to do something.”
Keep scrolling for all of Rodgers’ controversies through the years:
Family Feud
While a contestant on The Bachelorette in 2016, Aaron’s brother Jordan Rodgers told future wife JoJo Fletcher that he and Aaron “don’t really have that much of a relationship.”
“It’s just kind of the way he’s chosen to do life and I’ve chosen to stay close with my family and my parents and my brother,” Jordan explained at the time. “Yeah, it’s not ideal and I love him and I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in his shoes and have the pressure he has, the demands from people that he has. Don’t have hard feelings against him, it’s just how things go right now.”
The brothers’ estrangement only grew worse as the years went on, particularly after both Jordan and other brother Luke Rodgers called out Aaron for allegedly not being there for their family amid the California wildfires in 2018.
COVID-19 Vaccine Drama
Rodgers — who contracted COVID-19 in November 2021 — was forced to pay $14,650 for breaking NFL COVID-19 safety protocols as an unvaccinated player. His violations included attending a party with other teammates and speaking to reporters without a mask on. The Packers were fined $300,000 for not disciplining Rodgers or reporting his violations.
Ayahuasca Journey
In August 2022, Rodgers claimed on “The Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that doing ayahuasca helped him win two back-to-back MVP awards in 2020 and 2021.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I really don’t. I don’t really believe in coincidences at this point,” he said. “It’s the universe bringing things to happen when they’re supposed to happen and there’s signs and synchronicities all around us at all times if we’re awake enough to see them and to take them in and to listen to our intuition when it’s speaking to us or, you know, pounding us in the head saying, ‘Hey dummy, this is what you’re supposed to be doing.'”
The 9/11 Question
In November 2022, Packers backup QB DeShone Kizer claimed on “The Breneman Show” podcast that Rodgers once encouraged him to question whether the September 11 attacks happened.
“He shut the door, and the first thing that comes out of Aaron Rodgers’ mouth was ‘Do you believe in 9/11?’” Kizer recalled, noting that Rodgers wanted him to “‘read up on that’” and to “go back and look into some of the conspiracies around it.”
The Constant Indecision
During multiple offseasons, Rodgers kept fans — and the Green Bay Packers — waiting for long periods of time while he publicly hinted at a possible desire to be traded or retire altogether. After ultimately sticking with the Packers every time, in 2023 he and the team finally pulled the trigger when Rodgers was traded to the Jets.
Golf Cheating Claims
Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen called out Rodgers for allegedly cheating at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in February 2023.
“I love Aaron, but he did [cheat],” Allen said on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast in August 2023. Allen accused Rodgers of “sandbagging,” meaning he downplayed how good he was at golf before the match in order to be afforded extra strokes during the match.
“He may have gotten seven or eight strokes too many at Pebble Beach, or nine,” Allen claimed “other sources” said. Then he joked, “I think Aaron Rodgers should be in jail.”
