Aaron Rodgers has revealed many facets of his personality, both right-wing and left-wing, during the 2021 NFL season that fans were not aware of. In fact, it began even before the season began, when he hosted Jeopardy!. But he has since shown other dimensions to his personality that NFL fans did not know about, especially his thoughts about his vaccine hesitancy coming to the fore. Ever since it became clear he had misled people when he was asked about his vaccination status, Aaron Rodgers has been defensive of the excesses of liberal culture like wokeness.
But what really shocked fans was the discovery of him being a fan of Ayn Rand and her book 'Atlas Shrugged', which let people discover that he was more proactively right-wing inclinations than merely as a normal reaction to the criticism he received from many people for his anti-COVID vaccine stance.
Aaron Rodgers' previous criticism of right-wing positions
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It is not shocking that people can tilt right-wing on certain issues in their beliefs, but why it came as a shock to people was because previously he had been vocal against right-wing positions. He had previously spoken about the need to respect Colin Kaepernick at a time when much of the right-wing was against it.
Aaron Rodgers has also previously claimed to believe in climate change, something much of the US right-wing has been skeptical of. He has openly left the Christian faith that he was born into for that reason, much against what is the dominant strain of thought for the right-wing.
So, for someone who was considered by most NFL fans to be an avowed liberal, suddenly showing openness to right-wing ideology came as a shock to many fans. Some went nuclear on him, calling him a 'wacko' for daring to subscribe to Ayn Rand.
Many NFL fans pointed out the nature of the book, 'Atlas Shrugged', which encourages people to screw over other people before they can screw you, which they related to his current anti-vaccination stance.
Many opposed to right-wing philosophy said it explained everything related to Aaron Rodgers' recent posture against liberal overreach.
People also took the opportunity to point out the supposed mismatch between the right-wing beliefs of the private sector and market forces driving innovation for the good of the world and Aaron Rodgers refusing to take a vaccine developed by the private sector.
But it wasn't all one-way street as many professed their renewed love for Aaron Rodgers as they themselves were Ayn Rand fans.
Right-wing adherents were predictably enthused by Aaron Rodgers' reading of Ayn Rand, claiming that it was proof enough to show that he is a patriot.
Ultimately, though, it is Aaron Rodgers' choice of what he reads and there will be opposition from both sides if he is seen as subscribing to one ideology. That was true when he spoke of Colin Kaepernick's protests against racialized police brutality, climate change and atheism. It is true now that he is speaking about vaccinations and Ayn Rand.
The truth is, Aaron Rodgers will never be the person completely in line with every philosophy of every NFL. He cannot be the person we want him to be. He can just be the person he is. And in football terms, that means a very good quarterback.
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