Pat McAfee lauds Aaron Rodgers for delivering powerful speech at psychedelics conference - “Campaigning right now for a big change”
Aaron Rodgers' participation at a psychedelics conference in Denver has not gone unnoticed among NFL circles, with the quarterback a public proponent of ayahuasca for a couple of years by also making trips to use the psychoactive.
While some of the fans have criticized Rodgers due to his beliefs in alternative treatments, his personal friend Pat McAfee has defended his participation in the conference, saying that, if that's what makes him feel better, then he absolutely should do it - just like most people do in life.
“Aaron Rodgers was a speaker at a very large and impactful conference in Denver, about the advancements of different forms of medicine, and what psychedelics and ayahuasca and DMT, and all these things have the capability of doing for people mentally, he told his story, he told other examples, he's like, almost campaigning right now for a big change and I think in 2023, it's being listened to by a lot more people than maybe it would have been just 5-10 years ago. I always say that, whatever people want to do, to make themselves feel the best that they could possibly feel, why don't we just fu**ing let them do it? Like, you know, if it's not self detriment or self-harm, like, who cares?”
Rodgers isn't the only athlete who makes uses of alternative treatments as a way to help their body and their minds. Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, who's the world number one in the professional rankings, is also a huge defendant of some uncommon methods.
Although critics are heavy on Djokovic as well, you can't deny that, once he's playing, it's almost impossible to stop him. Just like Rodgers.
What is Aaron Rodgers' relationship with ayahuasca?
As he revealed months ago in an appearance on Aubrey Marcus' popular podcast, he discovered ayahuasca on a trip to South America a few years ago.
"To me, one of the core tenets of your mental health is self-love. That’s what ayahuasca did for me, was help me see how to unconditionally love myself. It’s only in that unconditional self-love that then I’m able to truly, unconditionally love others. And what better way to work on my mental health than to have an experience like that?”
Ayahuasca is not part of the league's prohibited substance list, which means that the New York Jets quarterback cannot be fined or suspended due to its use.