Did ESPN stop Aaron Rodgers talking about the vaccine? Pat McAfee show cuts out as Jets quarterback begins to discuss the jab, leading fans to speculate he was ‘silenced’

ESPN’s broadcast of the Pat McAfee show reportedly appeared to cut out as New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was gearing up to discuss the Covid-19 vaccine once again. 

The NFL veteran was making his weekly appearance on the show, where he revealed he still had a way to go before he could return to the field after tearing his Achilles during the Jets’ season opener. 

During his segment, the 39-year-old apologized to McAfee and co-host AJ Hawk for not wearing a costume with the anchors dressed as a killer whale and Edward Scissorhands respectively for Halloween. 

The former Green Bay Packers signal caller excused himself by explaining: ‘I had my costume on last night but I couldn’t wear it today.’

McAfee and members of his panel proceeded to ask if the costume was the vaccine, a doctor or a scientist, to which Rodgers responded by joking that it was a spike protein.

ESPN’s broadcast of the program appeared to cut out as the quarterback began his comment

Viewers took to social media to claim that ESPN’s coverage appeared to cut out at that moment and queried the blip. 

Some claimed that the cutout was intentional to prevent further discussion of the vaccine from Rodgers. 

‘Of course it was on purpose lol. ESPN got a dude just hovering over an eject button when Rodgers is on with Pat,’ one X user posted. 

Another highlighted ESPN’s parent company, Disney, writing: Mickey Mouse himself pulled the plug on Aaron Rodgers vaccine talk.’ 

‘They tryna silence him,’ one claimed, while another added, ‘I saw this as well! Is Pfizer running ESPN now?’

‘His days in front of an enormous audience are probably numbered.’ one theorized. ‘All the networks have contracts with big pharma. He’s also challenging people to a debate and those people do not want to speak about this in front of an audience.’ 

Meanwhile, others criticized Rodgers’ discussion of the vaccine as one posted: ‘Does Aaron Rodgers ever go like more than 5 minutes without talking about covid 19 and Dr Fauci?’ 

DailyMail.com has contacted ESPN for comment but has not yet received a response.  

Rodgers has previously been outspoken on his stance against the vaccine, making headlines in 2021 as sports were returning from the hiatus caused by the pandemic. 

Fans on social media were quick to speculate if the cutout was intentional due to the joke 

He told the media in August 2021 that he was ‘immunized’, leading many to assume he had received a vaccine. 

But his vaccination status came to the fore in November 2021 when he tested positive for coronavirus and was subsequently required to quarantine for 10 days — the minimum amount of time an unvaccinated player is asked to quarantine, per NFL rules.

The then-Packers quarterback refused to get the Pfizer vaccine due to being allergic to one of the ingredients in the mRNA vaccines.

As for the remaining option, Rodgers did not want to take get the Johnson & Johnson shot after seeing people suffer adverse effects from the vaccine.