On Wednesday. news broke that Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had not only tested positive for Covid-19 but he had never been vaccinated in the first place. While it remains unclear how Rodgers got the virus and there are plenty of questions regarding the way he’s handled himself in this situation, there are also lots of opinions out there about him.
Stephen A. Smith, someone well-known for having opinions, discussed Rodgers’ situation on First Take and seemed a bit flippant about the whole thing.
“It’s unfortunate. It’s not major,” Smith said. “It’s just one game. They’ll be 7-2 worst-case scenario. If this were an injury that was gonna leave him out for weeks or whatever, then fine. But he’s just out cause he got the ‘rona.”
Smith even jokingly offered a theory on how Rodgers got the virus.
“He came down with the ‘rona, hanging around with the wrong people. Probably Pat McAfee for all we know,” Smith said while laughing. “Listen I’m watching Pat on SmackDown and he’s doing a good job, but you’re hanging around with a bunch of people now, I mean Pat McAfee’s around A LOT of people.”
Jokes aside, while Rodgers does make weekly appearances on McAfee’s show, it’s always via Zoom and, far as anyone can tell, the two have not actually shared the same space in a very long time.
Perhaps sensing that he was being slightly too unserious about a pandemic that has led to 750,000 deaths in America alone, Smith tried to clarify that he was simply applying what he’s seen from other NFL players in this situation.
“Let me be very clear…I’m not trying to minimize Covid,” Smith said. “I was just saying that we see NFL players test positive and come back in one week. I don’t mean to imply that Covid’s not serious.”
[Mediaite]
