On Wednesday, Nov. 3rd Aaron Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19. This caused him to reveal that he has not been vaccinated, which misled the league about being vaccinated and broke NFL protocols.

   It isn’t uncommon for players to not get vaccinated–that’s their choice. Even though the percentage of vaccinated players has reached 93% there is a still big chunk of players who remain unvaccinated. Rodgers claims that his situation is different. According to Rodgers, his allergy to mRNA vaccines prevented him from getting 2 of the 3 options for the COVID vaccine. He didn’t get the one he could take because of the bad reviews and side effects like injection site pain fevers and aches associated with the vaccine. “ I have taken this very seriously.”Rodgers said “I am not a COVID denier. … I just wanted to make the decision that was best for my body. That’s it”.

   When asked about this situation in Green Bay, Rodgers insisted “Yeah, I’ve been immunized.”  Immunization means that a person is protected from COVID by vaccination. He said he was protected without saying he got an approved vaccine.  Rodgers violated the mask’s protocol in the NFL when regularly appeared in news conferences without wearing a mask. Rodgers did return for his game against the Seahawks on Sunday. 

   The NFL fined Rodgers and Allen Lazard for violating the league rules about vaccination and masks. The Packers were fined $300,000 for Rodgers and Lazard failing to follow the COVID-19 Protocols on vaccination and masks. Rodgers and Lazard were fined $14,650 each for the same reason. The Green Bay Packers CEO Mark Murphy said in an interview, “We respect the League’s findings and we recognize the importance of adherence to the COVID protocols to keep our team and organization safe and healthy. We will continue to educate the team regarding the importance of the protocols and remain committed to operating within the protocols.”

   NFL COVID regulations are very strict. Players and staff need to be tested weekly for COVID. Unvaccinated players and partially vaccinated players will be tested every day including off days. Mask protocols state that fully vaccinated players do not need to wear masks but unvaccinated players do need to wear their masks at press conferences and other situations.