Topic: Media Research Center
Along with tennis player Novak Djokovic, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers has long been a sports hero at the Media Research Center for his anti-vaxxer stance, as well as for lying to his fellow players about his vaccination status (he claimed to be "inoculated," which he wasn't -- it was homeopathic quackery). John Simmons tried to justify Rodgers' lie again (by pretending he didn't) in an August 2022 post:
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been called many things for deciding to not get vaccinated despite the NFL’s mandate last season. Thanks to Shannon Sharpe, we can now add “prick” to the list of pejoratives.
The co-host of Skip and Shannon: Undisputed went on air yesterday and promptly ripped Rodgers for his decision to be, as the quarterback put it, “immunized” against COVID-19.
The quarterback recently went on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and detailed that he was allergic to an ingredient in the mRNA vaccine, Polyethylene glycol (PEG). As MRCTV’s Nick Kangadis pointed out, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was discontinued because it was causing blood clots in those took it.
As such, Rodgers had to find another way to get treated against the virus, and presented the NFL with 500 pages of research to explain why he didn’t take the vaccine, his treatment process, and the effectiveness of that process (for which he was called a “conspiracy theorist” by the league).
Simmons didn't examine or even offer a link to Rodgers' purported "research," nor was any proof offered for Rodgers' contention that he was allergic to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. There's also no evidence that Rodgers had ever met with NFL medical officials, as he had once claimed. Still, Simmons sneered without evidence that the COVID vaccine "is as ineffective as the most politicians in office."
With the new year came a new football season -- and a new team for Rodgers -- and the MRC was still trying to defend the guy. We've already noted how Rodgers praised Djokovic's anti-vaxxer selfishness, as noted in a Sept. 5 post by Simmons; he went on to tout Rodgers' defiance:
Similarly, Rodgers decided to not take the COVID vaccine despite the NFL practically forcing all of its personnel to do so. He also decided to take Ivermectin to fight COVID instead of getting the jab and used his platform to call out the absurdity of America’s COVID mandates and solutions to the “pandemic.”
Given that more than 1.1 million Americans have died from COViD, Simmons' decision to put "pandemic" in scare quotes is a bit bizarre. Also, ivermectin has been repeatedly shown to be ineffective against COVID, meaning that Rodgers took that pill for nothing.
When Simmons suffered a season-ending injury just a few plays into his first game for his new team, Simmons spent a Sept. 13 post being mad people were feeling a bit of schadenfreude:
The New York Jets defeated the Buffalo Bills on Monday night 22-16 in overtime, which was the ending most people wanted given that the game was played on 9/11 in a city just minutes away from where terrorist cowards attacked our nation.
However, the win came at a terrible cost.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered an Achilles tendon injury just four plays into his debut that will sideline him for the rest of the season. The Jets began the season with Super Bowl aspirations, but those hopes will have to spend an overnight layover in injured reserve before they can hope to reach that destination.
While some people are dismayed by these recent events, whack-job liberal Keith Olbermann isn’t one of them. In fact, he’s elated that Rodgers suffered the injury, since the quarterback refused to take the COVID vaccine.
[...]
I fully respect someone’s right to think taking the COVID vaccine is a wise decision. What infuriates me beyond all reason is someone rejoicing over someone suffering a major injury because they didn’t get the jab.
Best of luck to Rodgers as he begins his recovery journey. Olbermann can go kick rocks.
Again, Simmons didn't mention Rodgers' rank dishonesty in lying to his previous teammates and buying into a conspiracy theory about ineffective pills being a substitute for actual vaccines.
A few days later, Simmons cheered that Rodgers "clap[ped] back" at Olbermann by saying, "Get your fifth booster, Keith. Bum!" Which, of course, is five more boosters than Rodgers has had, so that may not be the clapback Simmons thinks it is. And, again, which one of those guys is currently convalescing from a major injury right now?
