When touching on the drama caused his misleading comment on his vaccination status, the Green Bay Packers quarterback says, 'Everybody has an opinion,' but he chose to focus on the support he received.
- Nov 16, 2021
AceShowbiz - Aaron Rodgers was overcome with "a lot of emotions" upon his return with the Green Bay Packers. The 37-year-old admitted he got "a little misty" as he returned to Lambeau Field after missing last week's game due to his COVID-19 positive test.
In a post-game interview following Packers' 17-0 win against the Seattle Seahawks, the quarterback was asked how did he feel to return to the field. "A lot of emotions, for sure," he said. "Good to be back with the guys, good to be back at home, good to be back on the field, really. Most emotions from the whole night was probably walking off the field after the game. Definitely got me a little misty heading off. So, that was good to feel all those emotions and good to be back with the guys."
When asked why he got "misty," the fiance of Shailene Woodley divulged, "I just don't take these things for granted, walking off the field as a winner. Just walking out with Preston [Smith], who I have so much love and appreciation for, and then hearing that type of response from the crowd, it was a little extra special today."
On the backlash over his vaccination status and his misleading "immunized" comment, the athlete remained unfazed as saying, "Everybody has an opinion and I understand that it's a very polarizing issue for some individuals but I'm just focusing on the support that I got and it was deep and wide, and greatly appreciated."
"There's always going to be criticism in this world," he continued. "I don't define myself by the criticism but I understand it's a part of this because this issue is definitely polarizing. But again, I'm just so deeply grateful for all the people that reached out."
Aaron later refused to answer when given a hypothetical suggestion about the possibility of missing the Super Bowl because of his vaccination status. "I don't really like playing the what-if games," he said. "So what I do know is I have more than two months right now where my protocol's not testing every single day. So that's kind of the only thing I'm thinking about. I don't like playing the hypothetical game. Obviously, you'd love to be playing the second weekend in February and hopefully we're in that position."
Aaron was placed on the COVID reserve list following a positive test on November 3. It was then revealed that he was unvaccinated despite answering, "Yeah, I'm immunized," when asked during the preseason if he had been vaccinated against COVID-19.
In a November 9 appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show", he apologized for his misleading comment. "To anybody who felt misled by those comments, I take full responsibility," he said, adding, "But in the end, I have to stay true to who I am and what I'm about. And I stand behind the things that I said."
