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# Dueling Athletes
- URL: https://birchtree.me/blog/dueling-athletes/
- Published: 2021-11-08T22:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2021-11-08T22:00:00.000Z
- Author: Matt Birchler
- Tags: Links, #Import 2023-06-01 22:41, #Import 2025-03-29 19:29

Aaron Rodgers is my favorite quarterback in the NFL (on my favorite team, so that helps), but uh…he's fallen in my esteem over the past week. I hoped his appearance on the [Pat McAfee Show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3jM13A7OEw&ref=birchtree.me) would help him clear things up, but he only made things worse. As I tweeted tongue-in-cheek:

> Apropos of nothing in particular, I think about this graph a lot. [pic.twitter.com/ArZYCCYCB5](https://t.co/ArZYCCYCB5?ref=birchtree.me)
> 
> — Matt Birchler (@mattbirchler) [November 6, 2021](https://twitter.com/mattbirchler/status/1456791817010262022?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=birchtree.me)

Anyway, outside of the numerous medial experts who were flabbergasted by his remarks, it only seems fitting to link to another hall of fame athlete, [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://kareem.substack.com/p/aaron-rodgers-didnt-just-lie?r=ez75a). A few gems:

> Yes, some people who have been vaccinated have also caught it, but a lot fewer of them than the unvaccinated, and their symptoms are generally more mild. His logic is like someone having a debt of $50,000 and a friend offers to give them a gift of $40,000\. But they complain that it isn’t the full amount so they aren’t accepting the gift.

And:

> He also claimed he was allergic to ingredients in the vaccine, but offered no proof, which may be why the NFL denied his petition for vaccine exemption. Statistically, only 21 out of two million vaccinated people had severe allergic reactions. He also [expressed](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/11/05/aaron-rodgers-fact-check/?ref=birchtree.me) concern over fertility issues, even though there is a greater risk of infertility from COVID-19, which he has.

Abdul-Jabbar cites studies and actual research, while Rodgers played the hits you are liable to see in your weird uncle's Facebook feed, all uncontested by interviewer McAfee (something his commentors praised 🙃).

I'm not "cancelling" Aaron Rodgers, nor will I stop rooting for him and his team to win, but he's definitely knocked himself down in my eyes quite a bit. I'm not upset with him because he said things I don't agree with, it's that he did it so badly.