Ivermectin, Miles Teller, MVP-Level Play, And More

Rodgers stoked controversy before the season began, demanding a trade from the Packers and holding out for much of the preseason, taking a Hawaii vacation with his actress fiance Shailene Woodley and actor Miles Teller while his Green Bay teammates practiced together in May, eventually ending his holdout in late July.

Despite telling reporters he was “immunized” against Covid-19 in August, Rodgers was revealed to be unvaccinated against the virus in November after testing positive for Covid-19, setting forth a media firestorm.

Rodgers said at the time he did not get vaccinated against Covid-19 due to concerns about “sterility and fertility issues” caused by the vaccine (a claim debunked by the ​​Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and an allergy to an ingredient in mRNA vaccines (allergic reactions to mRNA vaccines are “rare, typically mild and treatable,” according to research from the Stanford University School of Medicine).

Rodgers also said he took ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug that is an unauthorized and dangerous treatment for Covid-19 according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to aid in his recovery from the coronavirus at the advice of podcast host and conspiracy theorist Joe Rogan.

Amid the off-the-field controversy, Rodgers led his team to a league-best 13-4 record and had the best quarterback rating in the NFL, enough to make him the odds-on favorite to win his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award.

Just days before the Packers’ 13-10 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Rodgers shared more controversial Covid-19 takes, questioning “how do you even trust” the CDC and calling the White House “fake” for declaring Covid-19 a pandemic of the unvaccinated in an interview with ESPN (Covid-19 death rates for unvaccinated people are much higher than for their vaccinated peers).