Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers responded to Pro Football Weekly’s Hub Arkush, who – as one of the 50 voters for the Associated Press – said he wouldn’t be voting for Rodgers because of his actions this offseason and his personal opinion of the Packers quarterback.
Here’s the full quote from Rodgers that opened Wednesday’s media availability:
“I think he’s a bum. I think he’s an absolute bum. He doesn’t know me. I don’t know who he is. Nobody knew who he was, probably, until yesterday’s comments. I mean, and I listened to the comments, but to say he had his mind made up in the summertime, in the offseason, that I have zero chance of winning MVP, in my opinion, should exclude future votes. His problem isn’t with me being a bad guy or the biggest jerk in the league, because he doesn’t know me. Doesn’t know me. Doesn’t know anything about me. I’ve never met him, I’ve never had lunch with him, I’ve never had an interview with him. His problem is I’m not vaccinated. So if he wants to go on a crusade and collude and come up with an extra letter to put on the award just for this season, and make it the ‘Most Valuable Vaccinated Player,’ then he should do that. But he’s a bum. And I’m not going to waste any time thinking about that stuff. He has no idea who I am. He’s never talked to me in his life, but it’s unfortunate that those sentiments – it’s surprising, that he would even say that, to be honest. But yeah, I know this was possible, I talked about it on (Pat) McAfee weeks ago. But crazy.”
Rodgers also had this to say:
“Like I recommended the book that I recently read, you can guess how many you know whats I give about that subject. I’ve enjoyed immensely my time with Pat, I feel like it gives an insight into my personality and what’s important to me. We talk about a lot of football, we talk about some life stuff, life lessons, learning, mistakes, failures, positivity, manifestations, things that are important to me. I enjoy that show, just like I enjoyed working with Jason for so many years. Those opportunities gave me windows to let people in, to let people see the kind of person I am, so people wouldn’t think I’m the biggest jerk in the NFL. But there’s obviously a faction, based on the response when I tested positive, that want to demonize me for my decision to be unvaccinated and want to adjust facts around that. Any time something comes up with me, me mentioning the largest book on my bookshelf, Atlas Shrugged, triggers people. That’s the environment we’re living in. There is not room for dissenting opinions or individual freedoms or informed consent ideas or people to have a different view than you. I’m someone who has an allergy to the mRNA vaccinations. That’s not even good enough to have a question about things. Pat joked about it on the show a while back, I knew he was serious. I think we were both serious at the time. Obviously, I’ve made it a little more difficult by the way I’ve played the last six weeks. I think the MVP should be about the most valuable player on the team. A lot of times it goes to the best player on the best team. And we’re the best team. So, if voters want to use the offseason or don’t like my stance being unvaccinated, that’s their prerogative, I don’t think it’s right, but that’s their prerogative.”
Coach Matt LaFleur defended Rodgers and the MVP vote earlier on Wednesday.