In response to New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers calling Travis Kelce “Mr. Pfizer” last week, former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Friday defended the Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end’s choice to vaccinate and claimed Rodgers has a “history of promoting dubious health measures.”
“Player A: Takes unregulated psychedelics, out for season,” Adams said in a now-deleted post on X. “Player B: Takes FDA approves vaccine, dominant on field, team winning, dating T Swift I’m no football expert any more than Aaron Rodgers is a doctor, but seems player B is ‘winning’,’ no?”
Apparently he deleted the tweet. Here it is, for posterity. pic.twitter.com/0ZGbEoQ3yP
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) October 6, 2023
Adams made his comments after Kelce called Rodgers “Mr. Pfizer” during The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, in reference to Kelce’s recent appearance in advertisements for the pharmaceutical company’s coronavirus vaccine. Rodgers famously declined the vaccine during the height of the coronavirus epidemic.
In addition to choosing not to vaccinate, Rodgers has promoted his use of the psychedelic drug ayahuasca in the past, saying in a 2022 interview that it gave him the “best season of [his] career” in 2021.
Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon during the September 11. 2023, game against the Buffalo Bills, causing what some have called a season-ending injury.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) is helped off the field after getting injured during the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Monday, September 11, 2023, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Adams’ mention of star singer Taylor Swift in his comments comes amid rumors that Kelce and Swift are dating, spurred by Swift’s appearance at a Chief’s game last week.
Taylor Swift, right, watches from a suite alongside Travis Kelce’s mother, Donna Kelce, inside Arrowhead Stadium during the first half of an NFL football game between the Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, September 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
The former surgeon general clarified his comments in a series of follow-up posts after his deleted one, berating his audience for “missing the point,” and commenting that “psychedelics haven’t been shown to cause Achilles tears anymore than vaccines have been shown to prompt dates with Taylor Swift”:
If you’re out for the season after making a number of well publicized and questionable choices about your own health, seems prudent not to criticize another player who is faring quite well with his health choices (including being vaccinated), no?
…
And btw [sic], I reposted this because many people (some intentionally) were missing the point. … Psychedelics haven’t been shown to cause Achilles tears anymore than vaccines have been shown to prompt dates with Taylor Swift.
…
But people with a history of promoting dubious health measures (and whether you agree or disagree with his ‘regimen,’ you can’t argue that Rodger’s advocates for some unorthodox and largely unvetted practices) maybe shouldn’t criticize others promotion of FDA approved health measures- especially so when they themselves are suffering from a health ailment.
If you’re out for the season after making a number of well publicized and questionable choices about your own health, seems prudent not to criticize another player who is faring quite well with his health choices (including being vaccinated), no? https://t.co/dojxSxamtg
— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) October 6, 2023
Kelce took the ribbing from Rodgers in stride, defending his decision to take the vaccine, and expressing surprise that he had entered “vax wars” with the quarterback. Kelce also lobbed his own insult back by “point[ing] out that Rodgers’ checks are signed by Jets owner Woody Johnson, an heir to pharmaceutical company Johnson and Johnson that developed one of the early COVID-19 vaccines,” the New York Post reported:
“I thought it was pretty good,” Kelce told reporters earlier this week. “With the ‘stache, I look like a guy named Mr. Pfizer. Who knew I’d get into vax wars with Aaron Rodgers, man? Mr. Pfizer versus the Johnson & Johnson family over there. …”
…
“Once I got the vaccine — I got it because of keeping myself safe, my family safe and the people in this building [safe] — so yeah I stand by it. One thousand percent.”
Rodgers has reportedly been working to rehab his torn Achilles tendon alongside Baltimore Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins, who has a similar injury. Rodgers “remains hopeful” of a return during the 2023 season, a feat that Bleacher Report warned would take a “medical miracle” because of factors such as his age and the seriousness of the injury.
Kelce and the Chiefs take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.