A day after Aaron Rodgers appeared on \u201cThe Pat McAfee Show\u201d and called former top U.S. health official Dr. Anthony Fauci an \u201cabsolute coward,\u201d Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy and the Steelers organization responded to the quarterback\u2019s comments, as did Fauci\u2019s attorney.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked to respond to Rodgers\u2019 criticism, David Schertler, Fauci\u2019s attorney, wrote in an email to The Athletic: \u201cAaron Rodgers doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about. He should stick to football.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike McCarthy responded to questions about the comments by saying, \u201cMy job is to keep it about football.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are grown men. They all have different opinions. There\u2019s no question about that,\u201d McCarthy said to reporters Tuesday. \u201cBut at the end of the day, my job is to keep it about football, keep the focus on winning. That\u2019s why we\u2019re here. We have a good locker room. We have a player council that\u2019s in place. We had our second meeting yesterday. We\u2019re in a good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steelers spokesperson Burt Lauten also shared a statement with The Athletic: \u201cDiscussions around culture and politics can bring differing perspectives, and our players are entitled to their own personal views. With respect to that, I am certain there are a variety of opinions on many topics within our locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodgers joined \u201cThe Pat McAfee Show<\/a>\u201d for nearly 30 minutes, with the first seven minutes broadcast on ESPN. The remainder of the interview was carried only on a digital platform.<\/p>\n The interview began with McAfee asking Rodgers about his mindset coming into the quarterback\u2019s season.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to plead the fifth,\u201d Rodgers said, with a smile. \u201cLike that absolute coward, Tony Fauci. Absolute coward.\u201d<\/p>\n Fauci served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, leading the federal government\u2019s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rodgers\u2019 answer to McAfee\u2019s was in reference to Fauci invoking the Fifth Amendment<\/a> in response to all questions during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee last week.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you kidding me?\u201d Rodgers continued. \u201cYou got a pardon and you pleaded over 100 times at the White House? What are you scared of, Tony? I thought you were the science. I thought, \u2018I am science,\u2019 and you get up there and you can\u2019t answer a question? What are we doing?\u201d (In a 2021 interview with \u201cFace The Nation,\u201d Fauci said<\/a>, \u2018I represent science.\u201d)<\/p>\n Rodgers went on to criticize ESPN\u2019s coverage of his decision not to get the COVID-19 vaccine during the 2021 season (when asked about his vaccination status that August, Rodgers told reporters he was \u201cimmunized\u201d<\/a>), comparing it to the lack of coverage of recent developments involving Fauci. Rodgers also criticized what he perceives as the network\u2019s lack of coverage of the scandal involving Dianna Russini<\/a>, former NFL reporter for ESPN and The Athletic. Photos of Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel holding hands, hugging and sitting together in a hot tub at an Arizona resort were published by the New York Post in March. (Russini, who denied being in a romantic relationship with Vrabel, resigned from The Athletic in April.)<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you going to say about me now?\u201d Rodgers said.<\/p>\n Throughout the remainder of the interview, Rodgers circled back to criticizing Fauci, the NFL\u2019s COVID-19 protocols, ESPN and the Russini scandal. An ESPN spokesperson declined comment on Rodgers\u2019 criticism of the network.<\/p>\n Rodgers has been critical of Fauci over the years, including in a 2023 interview on \u201cThe Pat McAfee Show\u201d during a conversation about his recovery from an Achilles tear.<\/p>\n \u201cIf science is Dr. Fauci, you\u2019re damn right I\u2019m defying science,\u201d Rodgers said.<\/a><\/p>\n