Aaron Rodgers Reveals If He Received COVID-19 Vaccine

Aaron Rodgers is getting ready for the 2021 NFL season, and one of the biggest issues heading into the year is the COVID-19 vaccination. The Green Bay Packers quarterback spoke to reporters on Thursday and said that he has received the COVID vaccine. But when it comes to other players getting vaccinated, Rodgers said he isn't going to criticize his teammates who haven't gotten the vaccine.

"It's a personal decision. It's an interesting issue," Rodgers said per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. There have been players who are against the COVID protocols put in place for the 2021 season. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has been very outspoken about getting vaccinated.

"I think the vaccination decision is a private health matter for me, and I'm going to keep it as such," Cousins said earlier this month, per NFL.com. "I do believe that as a leader of the team it's very important to follow the protocols to avoid this close contact because that is what it's going to come down to. Did you have a close contact? So I'm going to be vigilant about avoiding a close contact.

"I've even thought about, should I just set up literally Plexiglas around where I sit so that this could never happen again? I've thought about it. Because I'm going to do whatever it takes. So we're going to avoid this close-contact thing and I look forward to making sure I'm playing for every game this year."

In July, the NFL sent a memo to all teams about COVID-19. If an outbreak with unvaccinated players takes place with a team and a game can't be rescheduled, the team with the outbreak will forfeit and the game will count as a loss.

"If a game is canceled/postponed because a club cannot play due to a Covid spike among or resulting from its non-vaccinated players/staff, then the burden of the cancellation or delay will fall on the club experiencing the Covid infection," the memo states. "We will seek to minimize the burden on the opposing club or clubs. If a club cannot play due to a Covid spike in vaccinated individuals, we will attempt to minimize the competitive and economic burden on both participating teams." The Atlanta Falcons were the first NFL team to report all players are 100% vaccinated. The season begins on Sept. 9.