ESPN star fires back at Aaron Rodgers after Jets QB calls on critics to share ‘vax status’

A day after New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said those who criticize him should “state [their] vax status,” former NFL star and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark launched into a minutes-long diatribe ripping the outspoken quarterback.

Clark recently called Rodgers a “fraud” on ESPN after Rodgers criticized the network, which he appears on weekly for “The Pat McAfee Show.”

“Now, it’s all talk shows and people whose opinions are so important now, and they believe they’re the celebrities now. They’re the stars for just being able to talk about sports or give a take about sports, many of which are unfounded or asinine, as we all know. But that’s the environment we’re in now,” Rodgers said.

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That led to Clark calling Rodgers a “hypocrite” last week. And after subtle jabs against one another, Clark posted a video on his X account, noting Rodgers’ “continuation of his hypocrisy that started with criticizing ESPN analysts while being paid to be on ESPN.”

After further discussing why he believed Rodgers was a “hypocrite,” Clark said Rodgers was the “only” person to discuss the vaccine wars.

“Now I know something else you were very interested in was my vaccination status. And yes, I’m vaxxed because I have no spleen, have no gallbladder because of playing in Denver,” Clark said in the video. “And as far as your vaccination status, so you can stop trying to trick people into thinking that we want to talk about that above the stink of your film. I’ve never heard it one more time after your incident. 

“And the only reason we spoke about it then was because, based on your vaccination status, it was going to determine how long you were out. And also, people didn’t care that you weren’t vaccinated. They cared that you were slimy about it. They cared that you were deceitful about it. And they cared that you had this air of arrogance when answering the questions about it. And you’ve kind of been the only person that has talked about it since.”

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Clark also said he formed his opinion of Rodgers based on conversations he has had with those who were teammates with Rodgers, not because of their vaccine status. The former defensive back then fired off a closing shot.

“But let me be very, very clear. My job is to analyze you. You’ve decided to analyze me. And in analyzing you, what I know is your QBR is 21st. I also know that you’re the quarterback of a 4-10 team who has to win the last three games of the season to even be equal to what last year’s team was without you,” Clark continued. 

“Now, I get it. You get on the show, and you talk about my broach. And you curse and all this tough talk. I just need you to know, don’t none of that scares me. I’m gonna do my job the way I’m supposed to do it. I feel no way about not being able to talk about what the film says because of what my career was. And if you continue to be arrogant, or smug, or hypocritical, and it pertains to my job, I’m going to do it.”

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Rodgers has since shared regret about his approach in initially discussing his vaccination status.

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