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Aaron Rodgers is officially out this week after testing positive for COVID-19. But the positive test itself is not causing the controversy.
Instead, it's the fact the Green Bay Packers star appeared to lie about his vaccination status.
Rodgers has been appearing at press conferences without a mask on. According to NFL rules, that is a violation since he is unvaccinated. So will Rodgers or the Packers be punished?
Will Rodgers and the Packers be fined?
This situation is an interesting one for the NFL. The league is notoriously inconsistent with punishments or how discipline is handed out.
The issue here comes down to whether the team knew Rodgers was unvaccinated. That seems to be the case, meaning he was violating NFL COVID protocols in the facility without being corrected.
So it would appear likely some fines could be handed down just to send a message to other teams that the rules must be followed. If no fines come even after such a violation, the rules lose all impact.
The main question at play here is who knew about his vaccination status. That will determine any punishment.
Yet if the NFL as a league knew Rodgers wasn't vaccinated, would it require a positive test for him to be in trouble?
There are a lot of layers here that all arise from a lie at the start of the season. Ultimately, Rodgers put others at risk and that is a major concern more than anything else.
Will this impact Rodgers' relationship with the Packers after this season?
The fallout continues as the Packers have to take on the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday without Rodgers. Jordan Love is getting his first chance to start and if Rodgers faces any serious discipline from the NFL, Love could seize the job.
This whole situation was avoidable and it is sad to see a star player end up in such a predicament. He was not being truthful earlier this year and now his team is hurt as a result at the heart of the season.
Trust is a very important thing and Rodgers has lost that from fans and media members alike. The Packers being fined from this unfortunate situation would only build distrust at a time when it seemed Rodgers and the team had seemingly patched things up.
