In the height of COVID times, the NFL had no bigger holdout to the United States’ vaccine initiatives than Aaron Rodgers, despite being infected himself. A Green Bay Packers quarterback at the time, Rodgers contracted the virus in the middle of the 2021 NFL season.
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Interestingly, during his 10-day quarantine, the star QB broke his toe while working out around his house. And this incident sparked one particular controversy about a “COVID toe” that stemmed from a WSJ journalist.
Shortly after his injury, Rodgers and members of The Pat McAfee Show laughed on-air about him suffering a “COVID toe” injury. The statements, in Rodgers’ mind, were clearly made in jest. But not everyone tuning in recognized them as banter.
So when the Wall Street Journal followed up his TV appearance with an article exaggerating the degree of his ailment, Rodgers had to take action.
The four-time MVP recounted the aftermath of these events on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience in August 2022, saying he called the reporter after learning about the “COVID toe” story’s existence.
“[The Wall Street Journal said] I had lesions on my feet… I broke my toe. That was the extent of it… [so] I asked for [the reporter’s] information and had a phone conversation with him.”
“I asked, ‘Did you watch the episode at all? Because if you did, you would know they were making a joke about how I hurt my toe when I had COVID… Do you understand what humor is? Sarcasm?'” he continued.
Rodgers added he had his “own assumptions” that the reporter was “trying to slam him,” like many other news staffers had recently done at the time.
No other news outlet wrote a similar story
A number of publications bashed Rodgers for his COVID opinions throughout the 2020 and 2021 seasons. In his opinion, though, the so-called hit pieces on him were the “flavor of the week” back then.
Despite the increased focus from media members, he believes the Wall Street Journal was the only organization to pen a piece about his so-called injury.
“Just about every beat writer that covers the Packers, and national media that watch that show each week because they write stories about it. Not one [other] writer wrote anything about ‘COVID toe’… no one [else] wrote about it.”
Rodgers cleared up any misconstrued thoughts on his injury in his next appearance on McAfee’s show, but some networks acted as if he intentionally misled them. Those who watched “the whole episode”, though, picked up on his light-hearted manner.
We will never truly know whether Rodgers meant to deceive anyone with his phrasing. Based on his past interactions with McAfee’s hosts and his own personality, it doesn’t seem like he did. But the entire situation shows it’d be best to take his future words with a grain of salt.
