Over the past few years, the world has gotten to know the Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, more than they did at the start of his NFL career.
Love him or hate him, Rodgers has become more than an open book — and we don’t just mean his recommendations through “Aaron Rodgers’ Book Club” during his appearances in “The Pat McAfee Show”.
He says a lot of his freedom and newfound mindset come down to a question the 39-year-old has been thinking about more recently.
“Who am I outside of the number 12 you see on the field?” Rodgers said from his home in California on Tuesday at McAfee’s show, his go-to outlet every week during the NFL season for the past three years.
And what helped him get an answer?
“Applied medicine has allowed me to see clearly,” Rodgers said as he spoke with McAfee for the last time after the 2022 season, while discussing his NFL future around the clock.
Rodgers can participate in the ayahuasca ritual again after he decides whether to play in 2023
Rodgers is, of course, referring to ayahuasca, a plant psychedelic, which he turned to to help with his mental state. Prior to last season while doing the podcast rounds, he credited Ayahuasca with MVP seasons in 2020 and 2021. He fell short of meeting those criteria in 2022, though he told McAfee on Tuesday that he felt he could be an MVP for the situation. the appropriate . Hallucinogens have no accepted medical uses in the United States
Rodgers, who called himself a “hippie” on Tuesday, said in the past he would likely be called upon again to use ayahuasca, which he does in Peru, since the drug is banned in the United States, but Packers fans should have an answer about He said it was the 2023 season before he participated in another ayahuasca ritual.
“There will be no further hearing or ceremony before the decision, I can tell you that,” Rodgers said with a laugh. “Maybe then.”
Personal and professional experiences led to Aaron Rodgers’ new outlook on life
He said a number of personal and professional experiences “triggered” the response. It started in 2017 after Rodgers fractured his collarbone early in the season, where for the first time he felt “disconnected from the team”.
“There was some deep introspection,” said Rodgers, which led him to ask, “Who am I without football, who am I without the game?” Another injury followed during a tumultuous 2018 season. Rodgers said his advocacy of “applied medicine”, as he called it, led him to look at the world differently and find “balance and contentment without football being the identity” of his life.
“I put a lot of work into making this transition (after football) easier,” said Rodgers, who just finished his 18th season in the NFL. “Thankful for those lessons, and learning more about myself about who I am outside of No. 12 Green Bay Packers.”
Aaron Rodgers on contemplating retirement and his post-NFL interests: ‘So many other things’ take his time
Rodgers added his new approach to life and career, allowing him to do “things my own way”, showing “different sides of my personality while highlighting that I’m not just a robot, single-minded and unbalanced mathematical one-track repeater.”
Rodgers said he still finds “a lot of joy and satisfaction” in football but believes he has set himself up for his life after the NFL.
“I’m also interested in a lot of other things,” Rodgers said. “A lot of other things take my time. Although you might not quite fill that big competitive gap. Like I said, at some point the carousel stops and it’s time to get off… You’ve got to be ready for that.”
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It pays to be vaccinated, says Aaron Rodgers when discussing COVID again with Pat McAfee
A week after his season ended before the playoffs, Rodgers said he has mostly avoided any major problems in 2022, though he did battle with a broken finger he suffered against the New York Giants in London.
Then Rodgers sarcastically returned to one of his themes of recent years: COVID-19.
“I’ve avoided some major issues like a covid toe and a few other things,” Rodgers said with a smile. “Having gone through the winter of death and surviving, everything since then has been easy. I’m really grateful. Who can say they won the MVP award in COVID? We’ve had two years of COVID, and those are the years I’ve been MVP and I’ve dealt with Toe from COVID and I am a COVID survivor. I think immunization is helpful.”
Rodgers made waves for suggesting he was vaccinated against COVID-19 during the 2021 season by saying he was “vaccinated.” Of course, Rodgers wasn’t vaccinated against COVID, then contracted the virus later during the season and had to miss a game, while losing a sponsor along the way promoting the unproven treatment with ivermectin.