"That's b******t" - NFL execs and fans furious after Aaron Rodgers receives laughable fine for COVID gaffe
The Aaron Rodgers vaccination saga is still dominating the media landscape. Rodgers missed the Packers' loss to the Kansas City Chiefs after it was discovered that he was not vaccinated.
In August 2021, Rodgers was asked if he was vaccinated, to which he replied: "Yeah, I'm immunized," misleading many to think he was, after all, vaccinated, even though he wasn't.
Thanks to the lie, Rodgers got away with not wearing a mask on the sidelines during games and in press conferences, something that only unvaccinated players are required to do under the NFL's protocols.
Kirk Cousins and Carson Wentz are both unvaccinated. The two abided by the rules, while Rodgers and the Packers did not. Eventually, many in the NFL got to wondering if Rodgers and the Packers would get some kind of punishment for their disobedience, and today a penalty was handed out.
Rodgers and Packers learn their fate
As per Pro Football Talk, after the violation of the COVID protocols instilled by the NFL, Aaron Rodgers was fined just $14,650 while the Packers were fined $300,000 for their role in the breach. As the report by Pro Football Talk mentions, referring to the weak fines a source said, “That’s b******t”, which perfectly reflects the sentiments of a lot of people.
After all the press conferences and games in which Rodgers violated protocols, the NFL handed down a fine for one incident, the Halloween Party he attended.
As you can imagine, the reaction to this soft fine has been ferocious, with people taking to Twitter to express their feelings of frustration.
Thoughts and prayers to Aaron Rodgers. He may never recover from a $14,000 fine. Ridiculous yet not surprising. twitter.com/robdemovsky/st…
NFL: “We’re gonna fine you $14,650 for lying about being vaccinated!”
Aaron Rodgers: https://t.co/78Ud9Id6nT
Not only were Aaron Rodgers and Allen Lazard fined $14,650 each for the Halloween party, the party played into the team’s $300,000 fine, too. It wasn’t a team function, but the team knew about it after, didn’t fine them and didn’t report the violations. A message to other clubs.
Aaron Rodgers NFL money in 2021 is literally 2,000 TIMES the amount of his fine.
This is a joke twitter.com/robdemovsky/st…
I hope Aaron Rodgers learns his lesson after paying a fine that amounts to .065505% of his 2021 salary! twitter.com/adamschefter/s…
The NFL community sees the fines handed down to Rodgers and the Packers as unsatisfactory and lenient, with many wanting the quarterback to be suspended for the Seahawks game on Sunday.
The fine slapped on the Packers is also soft when one takes into account the number of violations that have occurred over the last couple of months
To put it into perspective, the fine for taunting is $15,000. The Packers quarterback lied about his vaccination status and only got a $14,650 penalty. Some have said that a million dollar fine and a loss of a high draft pick, potentially a second- or third-rounder, would have sent a stricter message to the Packers. But for an organization that makes as much money as the Green Bay Packers do, the fine is not a deterrent for other teams when it comes to abiding by safety protocols.