‘Vaccine allergic’ Aaron Rodgers is the Jets savior – 5/7/2023 – Sports

With short hair, impeccably dressed and clutching the green number 8 jersey, Aaron Rodgers said all the right things. He was there to win the most important trophy in American sports. He had a lot to help. He wanted to bring joy to a suffering NFL crowd (the professional American football league). But he did not forget to make a caveat.

“I’m not a savior.”

The caveat may have come too late. After one of the most prolonged sagas in recent history, the player signed a contract with the New York Jets. Not before presenting a list of reinforcements with which he wanted to play, managing to restructure his contract and seeing his new team give up to the Green Bay Packers, his old team, a series of future choices in the “draft”, the youth recruitment system that reach the league.

In addition to the 39-year-old quarterback, the Jets received the Packers’ first (15th) and fifth (170th) draft picks. But, in exchange, they gave their first selection right (13th position), second (42nd) and sixth (207th) of 2023. If Rodgers plays in at least 65% of games next season, Green Bay will also be entitled second pick for New York next year.

It’s a relevant package because the “draft” is the selection process for players coming out of college and the main tool for reforming rosters in the NFL.

“I’m an old guy, so I want to be in a place where I can win. I believe I can do it here,” he said in his presentation.

With the exception of the Buffalo Bills, who never won the Super Bowl, there is no team more desperate for the title than the New York Jets. Aaron Rodgers wants to cement his legacy as one of the greatest quarterbacks in history. He needs more achievements. In Green Bay, where he took over from the legendary Brett Favre in 2005, he only got one: in 2011.

A good campaign, and perhaps a Super Bowl title, could also restore the publicity appeal of one of the NFL’s most sought-after names for commercials. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Rodgers refused for several weeks to say whether he had had a vaccine. When he confessed to not having received any doses, he claimed to be allergic to one of the components.

He stated at the time that he was looking for alternative treatments to “protect himself”. One of them was the use of ivermectin, a medicine against parasites and worms, without proven effectiveness against the new coronavirus.

The star of the most important sports league in the United States, who plays in the most valued position of any sport in the country, thus became a kind of poster boy for anti-vaccination campaigns.

In irony perceived by his critics, Rodgers will play for the team owned by Woody Johnson, heir to Johnson & Johnson, manufacturer of the vaccine that the athlete refused to take. The businessman was US ambassador to the United Kingdom during the presidency of Donald Trump (2017-2021), who downplayed the impact of the pandemic and was not enthusiastic about vaccines.

Rodgers was used to wearing jersey number 12, a retired number on the Jets because it belonged to another “quarterback”. Joe Namath was the biggest name in team history, pitching in the franchise’s only Super Bowl, the 1968. Namath became idolized not just for winning but because, in the days leading up to the game against the heavily favored Baltimore Colts, he ensured that the Jets would win. Fulfilled.

Namath said there would be no problem. He would give up his number to Rodgers. In a perfect public relations gesture, the Jets’ new player heaped praise on Namath, said he couldn’t wear the legend number and chose the 8 instead.

Rodgers also needs to leave behind the image of putting the knife to New York’s neck with requests for offensive players to play alongside him. The team signed four athletes who were their teammates in Green Bay and were on their “wish list” presented during negotiations.

New York’s wide receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, backup quarterback Tim Boyle and offensive tackle Billy Turner arrived in New York.

The perception was that Rodgers, aware that the Jets were desperate for a new name for the position, held the team hostage in negotiations.

“I think this is a silly narrative,” complained manager Robert Saleh. “There are 32 teams in the NFL, and it’s common, when there are changes, you want to surround yourself with people you already know.”

The financial deal was complicated because franchises in the NFL have a cap on payroll spending. To restructure his contract, the player agreed to push until 2027 what he has to receive. This year, he will have the league’s minimum wage: $1.16 million (R$5.75 million). Until the end of the agreement, he will be entitled to another US$ 107.65 million (R$ 533.2 million at current quotation).