'Jeopardy!': Aaron Rodgers Mocked by Champ James Holzhauer Amid COVID-19 Fiasco

By Daniel S. Levine

Former Jeopardy! champion James Holzhauer has not been afraid to criticize the show on Twitter, and he did so again on Friday after Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' controversial interview with The Pat McAfee Show. In the interview, Rodgers confirmed that he never got a COVID-19 vaccination, despite telling reporters in August he was "immunized." Rodgers was one of the celebrity guest hosts for Jeopardy! last season, alongside controversial television host Dr. Mehmet Oz.

"Dr. Oz: I'm the only peddler of pseudoscience to ever guest host Jeopardy! Aaron Rodgers: Hold on a minute playa," Holzhauer tweeted. "Hold on a minute playa" was a reference to a meme with former WWE referee and WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long.

Holzhauer's followers pointed out that Oz and Rodgers aren't the only Jeopardy! celebrity hosts with controversies. Former The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik, who returned as Jeopardy! guest host after the Mike Richards controversy, has made several questionable comments about vaccines herself. However, unlike Rodgers, Bialik has been fully vaccinated. "She has been fully vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus and is not at all an anti-vaxxer," her representative told The Wrap on Aug. 11.

Last week, Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19 and had to miss the Packers' game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday. Although many thought Rodgers was vaccinated based on his comments in August, it was later reported that Rodgers was not vaccinated and had instead received an alternative treatment. Rodgers confirmed this in a wild interview Friday, in which he said he took ivermectin, an animal dewormer the FDA has not approved to use for preventing or treating COVID in humans, and received monoclonal antibodies, a treatment usually reserved for people at the highest risk of severe COVID.

Rodgers claimed he wasn't lying when he told reporters in August that he was "immunized" and was not going to judge unvaccinated players. "I wanted it to go away," Rodgers said Friday, reports NBC News. "Everyone on the squad knew I was not vaccinated. Everyone in the organization knew I wasn't vaccinated. I wasn't hiding from anybody. I was trying to minimize and mitigate having this conversation going on and on." The quarterback then claimed Martin Luther King Jr. would agree that he had a "moral obligation to object to unjust rules and rules that make no sense."

The NFL is now investigating Rodgers and the Packers to see if they violated COVID protocols for unvaccinated players. However, Fox Sports' Jay Glazer reported the league would only fine the Packers and Rodgers, not suspend him after their investigation. Rodgers repeatedly attended indoor press conference without wearing a mask, and also attended a Halloween party without wearing a mask. The league also reportedly knew Rodgers was not vaccinated. 

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