New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers attended the U.S. Open on Sunday and showed his support for tennis great Novak Djokovic while also zinging those who enforced the COVID mandates that kept him out of previous U.S. Open tournaments.
Rodgers and his friend and teammate Randall Cobb took in the action at Arthur Ashe Stadium as Djokovic performed on an American court for the first time in a very long time.
Using the hashtag “novaxdjokovic,” Rodgers took to Instagram to capture the moment.
There’s a lot happening in this photo as Aaron Rodgers got to see Novak Djokovic at the US Open today. pic.twitter.com/lNAjIBri79
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 4, 2023
The occasion marked Djokovic’s first appearance at the U.S. Open since 2021, when U.S. vaccine mandates barred him from entering the country.
“No, there was no anger,” Djokovic said before the start of the tournament. “It was last year during the Open that I felt it’s a pity that I’m not there. I felt sad for not being able to participate,” Djokovic said with a shrug of his shoulders, draped in a gray hoodie. “But this year, I mean, is this year. I don’t think about what happened in the last year or last couple of years. Just focusing my attention to this year’s tournament.”
Rodgers’ position on the vaccine is well known. In November of 2021, Rodgers told Pat McAfee that he was in the “crosshairs of the woke mob” due to his critical stance on the vaccine.
“I realize I’m in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now,” Rodgers said. “So, before my final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I think I would like to set the record straight on so many of the blatant lies that are out there about myself.”
Rodgers went on to slam the “witch hunt” against unvaccinated players and insisted that he was not “lying” when he said he was “immunized” against the virus.
“I didn’t lie in the initial press conference,” he said before adding, “It wasn’t some sort of ruse or lie. It was the truth,” Rodgers insisted.
Rodgers added that he is “not an anti-vax, flat earther,” but is instead a critical thinker.”
Rodgers will play his first game with the Jets in Buffalo on September 11.