Aaron Rodgers is facing yet another controversy — only this time, it’s on the green.
On the Wednesday, August 2, episode of Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen accused Rodgers, 39, of cheating during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in February, which the New York Jets QB won.
“I love Aaron, but he did [cheat],” Allen, 27, who played against Rodgers in the game, claimed on the podcast when asked about the speculation.
After host Big Cat (real name Dan Katz) accused Rodgers of sandbagging Allen — a.k.a lying about their golf handicap — Allen replied, “Not just me — the world.”
“He may have gotten seven or eight strokes too many at Pebble Beach, or nine,” Allen alleged before clarifying: “Not from me — That’s from what other sources are saying, I’m not saying that.”
Despite the serious allegations, Allen threw in a joke to ease the tension. “I think Aaron Rodgers should be in jail,” he laughed, adding: “I would say a lot of the golfers maybe thought that too.”
Allen’s accusations come after a controversial and difficult few years for Rodgers.
Last week, Rodgers took a $35 million pay cut when he restructured his two-year contract with the Jets. While he will still earn a whopping $75 million per year, his earnings are significantly less than if he had stayed with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers was traded to the Jets in April after his 17-year-long stint with Packers ended with Rodgers at odds with the organization.
“We’ve all turned the page. It’s a new chapter. I think it’s going to be exciting for Green Bay, moving on,” Rodgers told ESPN on Saturday, July 26. “It’s definitely been really fun for me out here.”
Over the years, Rodgers has made headlines for much more than just his time on the field — and the golf course. In November 2021, after testing positive for COVID-19, news broke that the athlete had lied about his vaccination status after previously claiming that he was “immunized.”
Rodgers, for his part, defended his stance, saying his immunization claim was “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 said on the Pat McAfee Show at the time. “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.”
One year later, Rodgers hit another rough patch when Us Weekly confirmed that he and then-fiancee Shailene Woodley had ended their engagement. That same month, Rodgers once again came under fire for his controversial views after former Packers quarterback DeShone Kizer claimed that Rodgers once asked him if he “believe[d] in 9/11.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Rodgers’ team for comment.
