Aaron Rodgers is setting the record straight on his alleged booger eating habits. After a video went viral appearing to show Rodgers, 40, digging for gold and eating it during NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast of the New York Jets’ 37-15 defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Oct. 20, the quarterback set the record straight during his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.
“I’ve been alerted to this,” Rodgers confirmed to McAfee and co-host AJ Hawk. “And actually in the moment I was thinking, ‘Man, I hope the camera isn’t on me right now.’”
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Although Rodgers admitted that the video – which showed Rodgers on the sidelines appearing to first pick his nose before eating it – “actually kind of looks like it,” he claimed, “I’ve actually never eaten my boogers, that’s one thing I’m very proud of.”
Rodgers stood by that statement even when McAfee challenged that he must have eaten his boogers as a child, stating, “I honestly haven’t.” However, the football star again admitted that the video did appear pretty incriminating.
“It’s a tough look to try and defend,” he said. “Because that video is a little incriminating. I can tell you that there needs to be a side view that shows that there wasn’t a boog that actually went in the mouth. It seems I didn’t get it in on that one. It’s a bad look.”
The so-called “boogergate” clip made the rounds on social media. Reacting to the short video, one NFL fan quipped, “Oh man! Unfortunately, this will be his legacy.” Another person wrote, “Jets season is going up in flames and Aaron Rodgers is on the sideline eating his boogers.”
Boogergate aside, Rodgers told McAfee that he was “disappointed” in his own play in the game, which marked the Jets’ fourth consecutive loss and saw the quarterback throwing two interceptions.
“The energy, and I look at myself first, just wasn’t good enough. Personally, and as a team, we’re playing with too much anger and not enough enjoyment,” he said. “We’ve played this game for a long time and we get paid incredibly well. This is our livelihood to play a game most of us dreamt about or played as kids, and always wanted to be in this position. Personally, and our team, we just need to have a little more fun. Smile more and enjoy each other.”
Rodgers added, “I think there’s ways of taking some of the pressure off and it’s gotta start with me this week, my energy and my approach.”
