GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday as rumors had swirled that an announcement regarding his future was coming soon. But, instead, Rodgers used part of the time to make a lengthy apology.
Rodgers makes a usual Tuesday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show during the NFL season, where he made headlines multiple times for his COVID-19 and vaccine-related stances.
Those rants stemmed from the blowback he received for misleading people about his vaccination status prior to the season when he now-famously said, “I’ve been immunized” to reporters during a pre-season press conference.
We later learned Rodgers is not vaccinated and he ended up testing positive for COVID-19 and missing one game this past season against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Rodgers was defensive as he appeared on McAfee’s show during the season, where he gave his opinions on the vaccine and its efficacy and slammed NFL policies, calling them “shame-based” to get as many people vaccinated as possible.
In his Tuesday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, where an announcement on his future was expected by many, he apologized to his loved ones, his agents, his sponsors and even McAfee and his producers.
“One thing that I am sad about and definitely apologetic is I didn’t realize in the midst of the COVID conversations how much my situation was impacting my loved ones and my people,” Rodgers said. “The people that support me and love me and take care of me. I didn’t realize the kind of shrapnel that was kind of being flaked off of what I felt like were the bullets coming at me, because I was too locked in to defending myself and trying to get a message out.”
“I never wanted to be divisive in this whole thing,” Rodgers continued. ” The issue is polarizing, I get that. I know there’s a lot of fear involved around it but my intention was never to be divisive, it was to speak what was my truth and talk about my own health. But I am very sorry to those people, (Shailene Woodley) and my loved ones, and my agents, and you (Pat McAfee) and the boys, my close friends like (AJ Hawk), my teammates, the organization, my sponsors. I didn’t realize the kind of shrapnel they’d be taking.”
Rodgers continued in his apology specifically toward McAfee and his producers, who caught heat during Rodgers’ rants during the season for McAfee’s editorial ability in questioning and interviewing Rodgers responsibly about COVID-19 and the vaccine.
While McAfee went on to try and bait Rodgers about potential retirement or return to Green Bay, he didn’t take it.
So, we continue to wait on what the 4-time NFL MVP wants to do. Obviously we saw another iconic quarterback walk away somewhat surprisingly earlier this month in Tom Brady.
There was also a deal Rodgers made with the Packers to return last season in which we learned the Packers would explore a trade for the veteran QB in the offseason if he so desired.
So, a return to Green Bay, retirement or a move to another organization all remain on the table for Aaron Rodgers as of right now.
Rodgers won his second straight MVP award less than two weeks ago. The Packers went 13-4 in the regular season and won a third straight NFC North title before losing 13-10 at home to the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional playoffs.