After testing positive for COVID-19 and sitting out for 10 days, Aaron Rodgers has returned to the football field -- but with some unfortunate side effects in tow, or, more specifically, in toe.
Update: Aaron Rodgers walked back his comments on Tuesday’s The Pat McAfee Show — that the Wall Street Journal took as fact – about his “COVID toe.” The Green Bay Packers Quarterback revealed on Wednesday (Nov. 24) that he has a fractured toe, and isn’t dealing with a symptom from COVID-19.
“I’m glad you asked just so I could show you the lesions of my foot here, so if I have enough room on this camera, let me see if I can,” Rodgers said before lifting his foot during a Zoom press conference, per ESPN. “Oh, oh there’s no lesions whatsoever. Oh, what a surprise. No, that’s actually called disinformation when you perpetuate false information about an individual. I have a fractured toe.”
Aaron said he expected an apology from the WSJ, but did “get a kick out of reading that article. That was very, very interesting, but no I had never heard of COVID toe before. Pat made a joke about it on the show, and I mentioned yesterday that it’s worse than a turf toe and it must be a bone issue.”
“I have a fractured toe.”
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) November 24, 2021
Orginal: Aaron Rodgers just returned to the field after testing positive for COVID-19 and sitting out for 10 days due to his unvaccinated status — but with some complications. The Green Bay Packers quarterback apparently has “COVID toe,” or a painful toe injury that occurs after one recovers from COVID-19. The complication, medically known as pernio or chilblains, is a condition that causes discoloration or lesions in the toe area and can be incredibly painful and turn the toes purple. “No lingering effects other than the COVID toe,” the 37-year-old admitted on the Pat McAffee show on Nov. 23.
Social media users then took to Twitter with their reactions to the news, sharing their disbelief and also condemnation for the football star around his COVID/vaccination decisions. “Aaron Rodgers has ‘Covid Toe’? Maybe if he took his foot out of his mouth it’d heal,” one person joked, adding “paging Dr. Joe Rogan,” as a response to Aaron’s consultation of the controversial podcaster who infamously treated his coronavirus diagnosis with Ivermectin, which has not been medically proven as an effective treatment to the virus.
Aaron Rodgers has 'Covid Toe'?
Maybe if he took his foot out of his mouth it'd heal.
Also: paging Dr. Joe Rogan.
— Howard ✡ (@HowardA_AtLaw) November 24, 2021
More people on social media reacted to the news with dismay, sharing their thoughts on Aaron’s COVID complications. “Reckon Aaron Rogers studied #CovidToe when he was doing his own research?” another user chimed in to the conversation. “#Avoidable” one person simply wrote, implying the issues Aaron could have prevented if he received a COVID vaccine. “Reckon Aaron Rogers studied #CovidToe when he was doing his own research?” another user quipped.
In terms of “COVID toes,” doctors have described the side effect as a result of the body’s powerful immune response to the virus. According to the British Journal of Dermatology in an Oct. 2020 study, chilblains seems to occur in younger patients who experience more mild symptoms and happens as a result of the body producing too much interferon when fighting the COVID-19 virus.
Aaron originally courted controversy when he appeared on Pat McAfee‘s show on Friday, Nov. 5 and said he was unvaccinated, exclaiming that he was “an athlete, not an activist.” The quarterback also criticized the media and NFL’s vaccine protocols. “I realize I’m in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now, so before my final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I think I’d like to set the record straight on so many of the blatant lies that are out there about myself right now.”
He continued his sentiments by saying he “strongly” believes in “bodily autonomy” and opposes the need to “acquiesce to some woke culture where a crazed group of individuals who say you have to do something.”
