DR. FAUCI'S LAWYER FIRES BACK AT AARON RODGERS OVER HIS COMMENTS ON PAT MCAFEE SHOW

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Dr. Fauci’s lawyer is firing back at Aaron Rodgers.

Earlier this week, Rodgers went viral when he trashed Fauci for pleading the Fifth during a recent congressional hearing during a segment on ESPN’s Pat McAfee show.

“I’m gonna plead the 5th. Like that absolute coward Tony Fauci. Absolute coward. Are you kidding me? What are you scared of Tony? I thought you were the science?” Rodgers said.

“How much time did the network spend on that? How much time did they spend on my responses every week? On my vaccination status? On Taylor and Travis’ wedding? Did they do even a minute on Tony Fauci?”

Dr. Fauci’s lawyer, David Schertler, saw Rodgers’ comments and issued a statement to Saad Yousuf of The Athletic: “Aaron Rodgers doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He should stick to football.”

While Rodgers’ comments have angered ESPN execs, the Steelers will not punish him for them.

“Discussions around culture and politics can bring differing perspectives, and our players are entitled to their own personal views,” Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten said in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports. “With respect to that, I am certain there are a variety of opinions on many topics within our locker room.”

It’ll be interesting to see if Rodgers responds to Fauci’s lawyer.

- Jorge Alonso

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"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" JETS' QB AARON RODGERS NAME DROPS NEW GIRLFRIEND; FANS ABSOLUTELY IRATE

The New York Jets are hoping the 2024 season finishes with as little injuries as possible.  It has been a nightmare start to their Aaron Rodgers experiment.  Injuries, coaching changes, and all around poor play have destroyed New York’s last two seasons.

However, Aaron Rodgers could have extra motivation going into the 2025 season.

According to a source at Wisconsin Sports Heroics:

Green Bay has made the playoffs both years under QB Jordan Love, while New York has failed to have a winning season. However, Rodgers remains one of the biggest topics in sports, and today he mentioned his new girlfriend.

It does not take long for #8 to find a new girlfriend, no matter how long he was in a previous relationship:

A few years ago, the then-Green Bay Packers quarterback shocked everyone when he announced during his virtual acceptance speech for his third MVP at the NFL Honors that he was engaged.

About a year later, he and fiancée Shailene Woodley were broken up but still seen out together as just friends.

On Monday, during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” the current New York Jets quarterback revealed that he has a girlfriend while discussing the Christmas season.

His news certainly caught McAfee off guard based on his reaction.

Aaron Rodgers didn’t reveal too much about her except that her name is Brittani with an “I.”

“I used to enjoy a little outing to go do my Christmas shopping but I actually ordered all of it online this year..

I’ve been waiting on one last package to show up for my girlfriend and it showed up today”

Congratulations @AaronRodgers12 👏 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/hgJIVQbJHF

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 23, 2024

AARON RODGERS: UNSURE ON '25, BUT JETS 'WOULD BE MY FIRST '

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Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is undecided on whether he wants to continue his legendary career in 2025. If he does, he wants it to be with the New York Jets.

The four-time MVP, appearing Tuesday on "The Pat McAfee Show," addressed his future amid reports over the weekend that said he wants out of New York and that he could be benched or even released by the end of the season.

"I don't even know if I want to play yet, but New York would be my first option," Rodgers said during his weekly appearance, commenting on next season.

Rodgers, who turns 41 next Monday, said he will base his decision on how his body feels and whether the Jets want him back.

"You want to be in a spot where you feel like you can win and you're valued," said Rodgers, mired in one of the worst statistical seasons of his career.

The choice might not be his.

The Jets (3-8), who fired coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas, will have a new regime in 2025. The new leaders may opt to cut ties with Rodgers, who is signed for 2025 but has no guaranteed money remaining in his contract. They could turn the position over to current backup Tyrod Taylor and a highly drafted rookie.

Rodgers used his spot on the show to deny various reports, including a report by The Athletic that he wants to play in 2025, just not for the Jets.

"That's 100% false," he said, adding that he's "not jumping off the ship."

But he created waves by expressing uncertainty about his desire to keep playing. When asked two weeks ago if he wants to play in 2025, Rodgers said, "Yeah, I think so" -- hardly a convincing yes. A few days later, the Jets' disappointing season unraveled even further with a crushing last-minute loss to the Indianapolis Colts and the firing of Douglas.

Rodgers mulled retirement after the 2022 season, ultimately deciding during his infamous darkness retreat that he wanted to continue. The Green Bay Packers traded him to the Jets in April 2023. His goal, he said, was to give "two good seasons" to the Jets. His 2023 season lasted only four snaps before he ruptured his left Achilles, and he joked that this season hasn't been that good, either.

"When you're 40, going on 41, you're obviously at the end of your career," he said. "... Obviously, if it's New York, they have to want me to be here. And then the new GM, new staff all have to want me to be with the Jets. And then body-wise, I have to see how I'm feeling and if I want to sign up to go back to the grind and all that, but it feels good. I'm healthy now.

"It's not as much fun when you're dealing with rehab all the time. So, if I can stay healthy the rest of the year and play the way I want to play, and everybody feels good about bringing me back, then there's a decision there. And if not, then there's all the other options. I think, at this point, I'm open to everything and attached to nothing. So, it's a good place to be."

Rodgers battled hamstring, knee and ankle injuries earlier in the season, no doubt contributing to his pedestrian numbers -- 17 touchdown passes, seven interceptions. There were reports that he could be benched or placed on injured reserve or even released by the end of the season.

On Monday, interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said there has been no internal discussion about shutting down the future Hall of Famer. He said Rodgers will "absolutely" start Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks and that "a healthy Aaron Rodgers is an Aaron Rodgers we all love."

Rodgers made it clear that he wants to keep playing even though the Jets have virtually no shot at the playoffs.

"I will not willingly go on IR without an injury," he said.

"... If I can stay healthy the rest of the year and play the way I want to play, and everybody feels good about bringing me back, then there's a decision there. And if not, then there's all the other options. I think, at this point, I'm open to everything and attached to nothing. So, it's a good place to be."

Aaron Rodgers

He confirmed that he hasn't had any medical imaging tests for his injuries, insisting he didn't need them because he trusted his own gut feeling and the evaluations of the team's medical staff.

The Rodgers experiment has been a major disappointment for the Jets, who are 10-18 since the trade (including the 16 games he missed). He acknowledged the two seasons have been "frustrating and difficult," but not a total loss.

"These have been two of the most important years of my life and two of the best years of my life," he said.

Rodgers said he felt bad that Douglas was fired last week. It happened after a bye-week practice. Rodgers said he noticed owner Woody Johnson arriving via helicopter during practice, as he often does. This time, he had a funny feeling.

"I just knew something might be going down here, and I was like, 'Damn, I hope it's not Joe,'" said Rodgers, who learned during a flight to California that Douglas had been fired.

- Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff Writer

AARON RODGERS BLASTS PHANTOM REPORTS HE FIRED ROBERT SALEH:

Aaron Rodgers resents the accusations that he orchestrated the New York Jets decision to fire Robert Saleh, but where is he even finding those accusations?

Jets owner Woody Johnson made the surprising decision to fire head coach Robert Saleh Tuesday morning. And while Johnson’s ultimate decision of moving on from Saleh and his 20-36 coaching record has received support, the timing was a surprise considering it occurred just five weeks into the season with the Jets only one game out of first place.

Still, it has been widely reported as being Johnson’s decision, and one that received no input from Rodgers. Despite the decision already being attributed to Johnson, Rodgers felt the need to dispel any reports that he prompted Saleh’s firing during his Wednesday afternoon appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.

“As far as any of the ridiculous allegations out there, I’m not gonna spend more than one sentence in response to it,” Rodgers told McAfee. “And that is that I resent any of those allegations because they’re patently false. It’s interesting, the amount of power that people think that I have, which I don’t. But I love Robert.”

McAfee responded by predicting the media will deceitfully spin what Rodgers said into a false narrative.

“They’ll take something you said there and chop it up and then say…that’s the world we’re in. Journalistic standards,” McAfee said at the end of the above 43-second clip that his show chopped up and shared on social media.

The question to Rodgers, however, is where are those “ridiculous allegations” coming from? To be fair, there have been some pretty wild rumors spreading about the reason Saleh was fired, but almost none of them begin with Rodgers. It might be a narrative found among fans on social media, but the media is not reporting this was Rodgers’ decision.

There is reason to think Rodgers may have wanted to move on from Saleh. The fact that Saleh called his trip to Egypt an “unexcused absence,” their awkward non-hug, and the “cadence” issue that was a head coach-created narrative, not a media-driven one. The media could have claimed Rodgers wanted Saleh fired and pointed to those examples, but they’re not. Rodgers might even deserve blame for Saleh’s firing, but only because his poor play on the field is the lead reason the Jets are stuck at 2-3 on the season.

Does it seem strange that Johnson would have spoken to Rodgers hours before firing Saleh without tipping his star quarterback off on the decision he was mulling? Sure. But believing Johnson may have privately warned Rodgers of his imminent decision is very different from reporting the quarterback fired his own head coach. Taking a broad scan of the reporting in the wake of Saleh’s firing, it would be a ridiculous allegation to claim the media is pinning this firing on Rodgers. Jets and NFL reporters should resent any of those allegations.

- Brandon Contes

AARON RODGERS SAYS HE REGRETS 2021 COMMENT THAT HE WAS 'IMMUNIZED'

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Three years after Aaron Rodgers told reporters he'd been "immunized" against the COVID-19 virus, the quarterback says in a soon-to-be-published unauthorized biography that he should have been truthful about his status.

Rodgers, who previously said the controversy had a dramatic impact on his public image, told author Ian O'Connor that the primary reason he claimed he was "immunized" was the statement represented "the crux of my appeal."

"If there's one thing I wish could have gone different, it's that, because that's the only thing [critics] could hit me with," Rodgers said in the book.

In November 2021, the Green Bay Packers' four-time league MVP tested positive for COVID-19 as an unvaccinated player and was sidelined for a minimum of 10 days. Rodgers had appealed to the NFL to have his homeopathic treatment regimen qualify him as vaccinated and faced widespread criticism for his misleading remarks. He was turned down.

Three months earlier, at a widely reported preseason news conference, Rodgers told reporters he had been "immunized" and was heavily criticized by fans and much of the media.

Rodgers later said on "The Pat McAfee Show" that his research showed he was allergic to an ingredient -- polyethylene glycol, or PEG -- in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, and that he was concerned about reports of adverse medical reactions to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

"But if I could do it again, I would have said [in August], f--- the appeal. I'm just going to tell them I'm allergic to PEG, I'm not getting Johnson & Johnson, I'm not going to be vaxxed,'" Rodgers, now the quarterback of the New York Jets, said in the book titled "Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers".

Rodgers told O'Connor the statement represented his appeal to the league.

He said: "I had an immunization card from my holistic doctor, which looked similar. I wasn't trying to pawn it off as a vaccine card, but I said, 'Listen, here's my protocol. Here's what you can follow to look this up.' And it was an ongoing appeal. So, if I had just said [I was unvaccinated] in the moment, there's no chance that the appeal would have been handled the exact same way."

Asked if he would have gotten vaccinated had a local mandate sidelined him like New York's had sidelined then-Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, Rodgers said, "I wouldn't have done it."

Rodgers was traded to the Jets prior to the 2023 season. He told O'Connor that he has joked with Jets vice chairman Christopher Johnson, brother of team owner Woody from the Johnson & Johnson family, about his refusal to take the pharmaceutical company's vaccine.

Other new reporting in the book includes:

• New details about the near decade-long estrangement between Rodgers and his family, including interviews with the quarterback, his parents, his grandmother and other relatives. It also includes a look at the purported role in the family dynamics played by actor and former Rodgers girlfriend Olivia Munn, and the story of the recent first step Rodgers and his father made toward a potential reconciliation with a brief but meaningful expression of love last summer that compelled Rodgers to say he wanted to reestablish a relationship with his dad.

• The story of Edward Rodgers, Aaron's paternal grandfather and a decorated World War II combat pilot who completed 43 successful missions against Hitler's war machine before being shot down, captured, and beaten as a POW. On St. Patrick's Day 1944, Rodgers saved his crew of 10 men in their burning, bullet-ridden B-24 by somehow flying it back to his base in Italy. Rodgers recalled that he was piloting his damaged plane "all alone over Germany. It was the loneliest feeling in the world."

• Why Rodgers was upset by Packers coach Mike McCarthy during his most devastating defeat, the 2014 NFC Championship Game collapse at Seattle. Rodgers wanted to call six plays he had seem on film that "seemed indefensible" when Dallas beat the Seahawks in the regular season. One veteran Packers player said Rodgers "wanted those plays called over and over against Seattle, and McCarthy called only a few of them one time each."

• That then-San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan, who drafted Alex Smith instead of Rodgers with the first overall pick in 2005, is "still bother[ed]" that his offensive coordinator, McCarthy, benefited most from that decision. "[McCarthy] had a lot to do with picking the other one [Smith], and in the end he got the one [Rodgers] that he didn't pick, and it elevated his career," Nolan says in the book.

• A look at the much-discussed text to ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter, who was seeking confirmation that he was being dealt to the Jets in 2023. Rodgers told Schefter, "Lose my number. Good try tho." Later at the owners' meetings, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, whose repeated messages to Rodgers had gone unreturned, told people, "At least Adam got a response from him."

O'Connor's book will be released next week.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. IS CONSIDERING AARON RODGERS OR JESSE VENTURA FOR A RUNNING MATE

FILE - Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks during a campaign event at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in Miami. Kennedy is having conversations with vice presidential candidates as he gets closer to announcing his runningmate for his independent presidential bid. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

 )

 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is having conversations with vice presidential candidates as he gets closer to announcing his running mate for his independent presidential bid.

Kennedy told The New York Times that NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura are at the top of his list. Stefanie Spear, a campaign spokesperson, confirmed the Times report and said there are other names on Kennedy's short list.

Kennedy, a scion of one of the nation's most prominent political families, has focused on getting access to the ballot, an expensive and time-consuming process that he has said will require him to collect more than a million signatures in a state-by-state effort.

Many states require independent candidates to name a running mate before they can seek access to the ballot, a factor driving the early push for Kennedy to make a pick. Major party candidates generally don't pick vice presidential nominees until closer to their summer conventions.

Kennedy is a lawyer and environmental activist who has become a leading figure in the movement that rejects the scientific consensus around vaccines. and a vocal critic of the public health establishment.

After originally running as a Democrat, he refocused his efforts around an independent campaign last year, spooking loyalists of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, who worry he'll pick up supporters who would otherwise back one of the major party candidates.

Rodgers, the longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback who now plays for the New York Jets, shares Kennedy's distrust of vaccine mandates and, like Kennedy, is a fixture on anti-establishment podcasts. Ventura, a former professional wrestler, shocked observers when he won the race for Minnesota governor as an independent candidate in 1998.

- JONATHAN J. COOPER

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NFLPA CALLS FOR LEAGUE-WIDE GRASS FIELDS FOLLOWING RODGERS' INJURY

USA TODAY Sports 

The NFL Players Association called on Wednesday for the league to eliminate artificial turf fields in favor of natural grass surfaces following the season-ending injury to four-times MVP Aaron Rodgers this week.

The plea by NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell came two days after Rodgers' much-anticipated debut with the Jets came to a quick end when the 39-year-old quarterback tore his Achilles on the team's fourth play from scrimmage in their season opener.

Howell, who took over as NFLPA executive director in June, said in a statement that players overwhelmingly prefer playing on grass and that the issue of surfaces has been near the top of the players' minds during his team visits.

AARON RODGERS PLUNKS DOWN $9.5 MILLION On Huge New Jersey Home!

Aaron Rodgers doesn't just have a new football home, he's got a new crib, too ... the Jets superstar quarterback dropped nearly $10 million on a brand new, gorgeous New Jersey estate!

The $9.5 million, 8-bedroom, 10-bathroom pad is located in Montclair, NJ, according to Daily Mail, which broke the story ... and was just recently built in 2022.

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NFL: GREENBAY BEAT CHICAGO 26-10

Chicago (1-6) has lost their 6th game of the season as Green Bay Packers (4-2) beat them 26-10...

NFL: GREEN BAY YAISHANGAZA LIONS

Green Bay Packers imeshinda game yake dhidi ya Detroit Lions mwishoni kabisa baada ya Aaron Rodgers kurusha mpira yadi 61 au kwa lugha ya American Football inaitwa "Hail Mary" na kudakwa na Richard Rodgers na kushinda game 27-23...Bofya hapa upate habari zaidi.