TBR Sports Blog: "No Immunity to Irony"

Ok, Aaron. You’ve made your point.

You’re right. We’re wrong.

Happy now?

Now we've all been talking about Kyrie Irving and his current battle with the NBA when it comes to his vaccination status. If you’ve been living under a rock the past few months, here’s a synopsis: his argument is he that doesn't agree with the mandate that we here living in New York City Have to fucking deal with here too and I respect that. I totally understand. My issue with Irving has always been if the fellas you brought with you (i.e., Kevin Durant and James Harden) here to win a chip why are you not being the leader that you said that you wanted to be by at the very least like making that sacrifice for your teammates? Personally, I believe the mandate is stupid. I believe it doesn't make any sense; in fact, it opens it up for more dishonesty than before.

Which leads me to Mr. Aaron Rodgers.

I specifically waited until the end of the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs to complete this post, simply because I wanted to come from a place of good perspective. Also in the news this past week, Rodgers was diagnosed with COVID, so he had to sit out the game at Arrowhead, resulting in Jordan Love’s first NFL Start.

Now, the league’s rules have specific protocols for unvaccinated players, and there’s currently an investigation into Rodgers’ conduct over the past few months. Claiming he’s ‘immunized’ (he had an alternative treatment done to boost his antibody count) when being asked if he had taken the vaccine is one thing. The terminology he used afterwards, once he had contracted the virus, is what makes this egregious. Speaking about a “Woke Mob” and “Cancel Culture” along with “Witch Hunt” aren’t exactly prime words he should’ve used.

In many way, these sentiments are echoed by many other people of color throughout the nation. Hear me out. He’s speaking about how we have to do our own research, that he has vast reservations of the vaccine, and the like. He’s echoing the vast majority of people who are unvaccinated for whatever reason it may be, and it should be commended that he makes points in his argument. The issue is the fact that Kyrie Irving, whom we’ve all shunned to the side basically for making a similar stance, has received far more vitriol than Rodgers.

I now have reason to believe that Aaron Rodgers is a lot more selfish than we all thought.

In Sunday’s game against the reigning two time AFC champions, Jordan Love threw for 190 yards and a single touchdown to Allen Lazard in the 4th quarter, en route to a 13-7 loss in Kansas City. Yes. You read that right. Chiefs 13, Packers 7.

Call it a coincidence if you want, but I believe Aaron Rodgers did a lot of this on purpose. Not catching COVID, but making such a gargantuan deal about his successor being drafted during his MVP season last year. This was the prime opportunity for the entire league, after all the tumult and circumstance in the offseason which lead to the ultimate belief that this is Rodgers’ final season in Green Bay, to see the fruits of the tainted labor of the Packers front office. And, without question, they have failed miserably.

You see, I was going to use this blog to chastise Rodgers and vent my anger towards his words on the Pat McAfee show when he said that the rules “don’t make sense to me.” Imagine Kyrie Irving ( or any other athlete of color for that matter) saying that. What Love’s bumpy first start ultimately proved is that Aaron was right. And maybe that’s all he really wanted, to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Gudenkeunst made a mistake drafting his successor seemingly prematurely.

Even after winning a third leage MVP and having offseason vacations we only dream of, this weekend wasn’t about Rodgers’ possibly facing discipline from the league for not wearing his mask at the podium. Oh no. This weekend was about the fact that Rodgers was right about how valuable he is and how worthless Love might be. And that’s how we must view Rodgers now, I believe. He always has to be the smartest in the room. And, ironically—damn near karmically—it took the very disease he too thought he was too smart for to succinctly prove it.

Are you happy now, Aaron?