Aaron Rodgers Gives Vaccine Spokesman Travis Kelce a New Nickname Live on ESPN
Injured New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers took a lighthearted dig at the NFL’s most recognizable spokesman for Big Pharma.
Tuesday on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers casually referred to Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce as “Mr. Pfizer.”
The segment featured Rodgers, host Pat McAfee and former Green Bay Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk discussing the defending Super Bowl Champion Chiefs’ narrow 23-20 victory over the Jets in New York on Sunday night.
Kansas City raced to a 17-0 first-quarter lead behind a strong running game and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
For the remainder of the game, however, New York’s talented defense held the powerful Chiefs without a touchdown. This allowed the Jets to mount a rally and tie the game at 20-20 in the second half. Kansas City regained the lead, however, on what proved to be a game-winning fourth-quarter field goal.
Rodgers noted that the Jets have received praise for staying competitive and keeping the Chiefs’ two offensive stars in check.
“I think there’s some sentiment that there’s some sort of moral victory out there that we hung with the champs and that our defense played well and that Pat [Mahomes] didn’t have a crazy game,” Rodgers said.
An ordinary bit of football analysis, however, quickly turned amusing — at least to McAfee and Hawk.
“Mr. Pfizer, we kind of shut him down a little bit,” Rodgers said in reference to Kelce.
McAfee immediately cracked up and tried to suppress laughter while Rodgers continued talking. Hawk smiled and shook his head.
“He didn’t have his crazy impact game,” Rodgers added of Kelce. “He had some yards and stuff. But I felt like for the most part we played really tough on defense, especially the last three quarters.”
“Our defense played really well and Mr. Pfizer didn’t have a crazy impact on the game” 😂@AaronRodgers12 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/AGzbcRFjdi
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 3, 2023
Kelce caught six passes for 60 yards, a relatively modest output by his All-Pro standards. But that was not the part that McAfee and Hawk found so amusing.
The Chiefs’ tight end recently became a Pfizer spokesman.
Readers who wish to view Kelce’s Pfizer commercial, posted to his Instagram account, may do so here:
View this post on Instagram
Rodgers, meanwhile, has remained a COVID vaccine skeptic.
While playing for the Green Bay Packers in 2021, Rodgers ignited controversy over his vaccination status. At one point, he referred to himself as having been “immunized,” a statement he later acknowledged as misleading.
Rodgers nonetheless remained unvaccinated and stood by his stated preference for alternative COVID treatments.
Thus, McAfee had to follow up on Rodgers’ gentle dig at a fellow player.
“You did talk to Mr. Pfizer — you talked to Travis — pregame. And obviously that was recorded,” a chuckling McAfee said in reference to a clip of a pregame conversation between Rodgers and Kelce.
“What were you talking about here? Were you talking about different vax and what’s potentially the one for you?” McAfee cheekily asked.
“I think some things need to be left on the field. It’s actually a better story probably left up to the imagination,” Rodgers replied.
Rodgers made it clear that he has nothing against Kelce personally.
“I’ve known him for a long time, and it was just a quick chat,” Rodgers said.
After a minute’s worth of jocular allusions to Rodgers’ 2021 controversy, McAfee brought the conversation back to Kelce.
“OK, let’s talk about a story that you — [laughs] Mr. Pfizer. How good did that feel coming out? Mr. Pfizer? You been planning on that?” McAfee asked.
The understated Rodgers remained deadpan.
“No. I mean he’s, you know, he’s doing commercials for Pfizer, so I’m sure he’s owning it,” Rodgers said.
When Hawk and McAfee reminded Rodgers that Kelce does commercials for other companies, too, the quarterback acted nonplussed.
“I was watching the game. I couldn’t hear the commercials,” Rodgers said.
For tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans, Rodgers’ “Mr. Pfizer” comment no doubt produced reactions that defy easy explanation.
For one thing, we might feel a deep sense of satisfaction that he made the comment on woke ESPN. That moribund network has benefited from Pfizer’s advertising largesse.
One can only imagine — and it does gratify us to imagine — ESPN executives’ horrified reaction to Rodgers’ comment.
Indeed, Pfizer’s ubiquitousness partly explains our satisfaction.
After all, the pharmaceutical behemoth practically pays for the corporate news, which then spreads pro-vaccine propaganda.
Recall, for instance, a 2021 viral montage of clips showing Pfizer’s sponsorship of various news programs.
“Well, this is totally normal and not at all a conflict of interest,” writer and journalist Whitney Webb posted while sharing the montage on X the social media platform previously known as Twitter.
Well, this is totally normal and not at all a conflict of interest pic.twitter.com/4MKm0VozBC
— Whitney Webb (@_whitneywebb) October 19, 2021
Finally, Rodgers did not simply hang the “Mr. Pfizer” label on an NFL star. He hung that label on pop star Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.
Swift and Kelce recently started dating, which does not interest me in the least. What does interest me is the possibility that Rodgers’ dig might find its way to some of Swift’s young fans, millions of whom otherwise stand no chance of escaping the swirl of woke propaganda.
In that way, a few might begin to question official narratives.
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