Did Aaron Rodgers Lie About Being Vaccinated?

Aaron Rodgers has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the Green Bay Packers' matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs this week. Tom Pelissero originally reported the news, and then Ian Rapoport reported that Rodgers was not vaccinated, which is why he was declared out immediately after testing positive.

All of this is obviously sudden and a big surprise, but the fact that Rodgers is unvaccinated is news to everyone because reports widely circulated that he was, in fact, vaccinated back in August.

So what's the truth here? It turns out that Rodgers told reporters he was "immunized" but never said, specifically, that he was unvaccinated. Everyone, including the reporters asking Rodgers the questions, assumed he meant he was vaccinated.

Apparently not. Rodgers is definitely unvaccinated-- if he were vaccinated, there would still be a chance he'd play this week because vaccinated players need fewer negative tests and have a larger window in which to test negative in order to play. Davante Adams, who missed last Thursday's game due to a COVID diagnosis, wasn't declared out until the night before because he was vaccinated.

It seems extremely unlikely that Rodgers' choice of words was coincidental. He threaded the needle in a way that sounded like he answered the question in the affirmative, but was exposed when he actually tested positive and has to adhere to protocols made for unvaccinated players. Rodgers is a smart dude who has been blasting the media and the way narratives are twisted all year long. He knew exactly what he was doing. Even if he didn't lie, it was intentionally misleading, and now he is facing the consequences.

As a result, the 7-1 Packers will be without their star quarterback and risk dropping a game because he didn't get vaccinated.